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

No one knows what FirstNet pricing will be, but the story of Fairfax County, Va., has captured the attention of many within government circles. Instead of paying $16 million in upfront costs for a new LMR network, Fairfax County was able to avoid the entire capital expenditure and save about $2 million in annual operating expenses by migrating the county’s general-government workers to a carrier push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC) offering, according to Michael Newburn, Fairfax County’s wireless manager.

It is important to note that this may not be a realistic option for everyone. Newburn has said that Fairfax County attempted this move only with its general-government employees—not public-safety personnel—and that the county had been using the AT&T network for years for data application, so the county was comfortable with the coverage provided by the carrier within its jurisdiction.

For this reason, these Fairfax County already had county-issued smart devices, so the PoC functionality could be added as an application for a nominal monthly fee. For entities that that do not already have such carrier subscriptions, the savings would not be as great. In addition, a lack of carrier coverage could make such a transition impractical, depending on the location.

These factors are even more important on the public-safety side, which also will require much greater information about the effectiveness of MCPTT. Testing of MCPTT is expected to begin later this year, and it should not be limited to the U.S.—both South Korea and the United Kingdom are pursuing public-safety LTE earnestly.

There are plenty of incentives for MCPTT to be developed and tested thoroughly. In the U.S., it is actually mandated in the law that created FirstNet. In addition, the idea of Fairfax County-like savings is appealing to governments at all levels, if—and this should be the important part—MCPTT meets public safety’s performance needs.

But even the most positive MCPTT test results will have little meaning if there is not a public-safety-grade network for it. That is why it is important for this lawsuit to be resolved as quickly as possible, no matter the eventual ruling. Only with greater certainty about FirstNet can the critical-communications community make informed decisions about its long-term future.