Government officials anxious for FirstNet clarity while contemplating long-term plans

This is a scary situation, as public-safety personnel are left trying to do their dangerous jobs with outdated equipment. If there is a communications failure, it could result in the loss of a life, be it a first responder or a citizen. Even if such a failure is avoided, maintenance tends to be needed more frequently on older networks, and finding qualified people to fix them may be difficult.

Meanwhile, the issue of whether to upgrade the LMR network will continue to be raised regularly. Each time, elected officials will have to decide whether to continue waiting for MCPTT or pay for the LMR upgrade, which still will take time to implement.

Nightmare Scenario #2: The decision is made to proceed with an expensive LMR upgrade with significant capital costs. At the same time, FirstNet and MCPTT prove to work great in a relatively short period after hitting the market as early as 2018.

Proceeding with LMR makes all of the sense in the world today; in fact, many see it as the only option, as MCPTT is just an unproven standard, and FirstNet does not even exist. Of course, the status of FirstNet and MCPTT could be very different by the time a new LMR system is engineered, procured and constructed.

If FirstNet and MCPTT prove to be a hit in the early 2020s, the circumstances of 2017 likely will be forgotten. Instead, elected officials may look for a scapegoat as they try to explain why they have make debt payments on a pricey LMR network for an additional 10-15 years.

If all goes well with FirstNet and MCPTT, personnel may only carry one device for data and voice usage. Meanwhile, the notion of monthly subscriptions to FirstNet as part of the operating budget will look much more attractive than the debt payments—not to mention funding ongoing maintenance in a radio technology that is not attracting young technical expertise—particularly in cities and counties facing significant debts associated with massive underfunding of pension plans.

Of course, there are all sorts of scenarios that fall between these two extremes—involving everything from opt-out variables to specifics for different types of first responders—but the reality is that many are far from ideal. As a result, we continue to hear stories about entities that have postponed making a decision until they know more about FirstNet. In other words, this is impacting LMR vendors, as well as public safety.