FirstNet’s Swenson to Congress: Final RFP due this year, ‘we should be shot’ if 2022 goal not met

After hearing this, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked whether FirstNet could be given direct hiring authority. Andrews said the request has been made twice, with the second request being made in August 2014. Swenson said the first request received a negative response, and the second request has not received a response to date.

Blumenthal said this situation needs to change.

“The success of this very, very important national priority depends on having the best and the brightest,” Blumenthal said. “There is simply no way you can compete for the limited pool of highly skilled, talented people who are being hiring by Google, Apple … There is huge demand for these people, and you’re telling them, ‘Sorry, we can’t let you know for another 10 months,’ and they’re going to say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ right?”

Swenson said, “In fact, they have,” later agreeing with Blumenthal’s speculation that the scenario has occurred “in large numbers.”

Blumenthal continued, “The federal government is failing you. I think we have an obligation to compel the relevant agencies … to do better, to do more and to do it more quickly, so that you can succeed in this task.”

Other key points addressed during the hearing included:

• Swenson’s repeated commitment to deploy the FirstNet system in rural areas, noting that this is a focus of the public notice approved by board members on Monday;
• Swenson and Andrews noting that cybersecurity is a “priority” for FirstNet;
• Swenson saying that utilizing existing government-owned communications is proving to be “more difficult than we anticipated,” citing experiences in Los Angeles; and
• Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) stating that officials in the state of Mississippi are “disappointed and upset” that the state’s public-safety LTE plans were halted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as the system was just “weeks away” from being deployed when Congress created FirstNet in 2012. Andrews said the Mississippi program did not meet the statutory guidelines, in part because it did not provide broadband coverage.