FirstNet shares more business-case information during Industry Day event

In addition, acquiring access to spectrum at auction requires a massive upfront payment; under the FirstNet model, the partner would pay FirstNet a fixed amount of money in payments spread across several years, Kennedy said.

“I believe the timing to be able to leverage the spectrum is something that’s very positive about the FirstNet opportunity,” Kennedy said.

“Also, the amount of cash that is laid out up front—versus over time—is a very drastically different curve. From my business perspective and looking at this, I think this is a critical part of how we look at the opportunity and the amount of money that is borrowed versus what needs to be plowed into the network going forward.”

As a result, Kennedy said that he believes it will take much less time for potential offerers to reach the “break-even” point with FirstNet than under the traditional auction model.

“The opportunity to get to a successful business quickly I think is something that is very prevalent in the FirstNet model,” he said. “I think it is something that is better than some of the other options for those that are looking at spectrum usage today. And, I think it’s really important when you’re looking at valuing the FirstNet opportunity … I think the FirstNet opportunity is something that is quite attractive to industry, and I think everyone should be comparing some of the cost of doing that and the cost of doing it in other ways.

“At the end of the day, all that matters is that public safety gets the network that they need and we meet the public-safety objectives. But, from a business-development and corporate-development standpoint, I think it’s important to compare and contrast some of the traditional ways that industry has gone about this in the past and some of the non-traditional ways that they could go about it in bidding on the FirstNet opportunity.”

When FirstNet partners would be able to sell commercial services on the spectrum is unclear. FirstNet officials reiterated that public-safety entities will have preemptive priority on the network when responding to emergencies, but the details have not been determined.

FirstNet has conducted public-notice proceedings to solicit input about the definition of a “public-safety entity” that can qualify for prioritized access to the network, but no determinations have been announced. However, FirstNet Acting Chief Counsel Jason Karp said that “where we’re moving forward—as well as the feedback we’re getting from the states—is to encompass a very broad swath of public-safety entities beyond your traditional police, fire and EMS, both at the state and federal level.”

Meanwhile, the rules by which public-safety entities would use the network have not been determined in detail, although Kennedy said, “We certainly expect to have rational usage policies and procedures that benefit public safety but also create a way to use the network overall for network management.”