If FirstNet does its job, opt out is not a practical choice for states

To this end, FirstNet is adopting a strategy with states and territories that is designed to prevent any major disconnect between FirstNet and each state and territory. Instead of designing a network design and deployment plan for the entire nation and having each state and territory accept or reject it, FirstNet officials plan to work with each state individually to develop a plan for that particular jurisdiction—while meeting FirstNet’s interoperability requirements, of course—according to FirstNet General Manager Bill D’Agostino.

“That’s the key to the success, in our opinion, of adoption—the ability for the governors and the agencies in the states to say, ‘My team has worked with FirstNet, we have built this plan together, and we believe in it,’” D’Agostino said during an interview conducted at the LTE North America conference. “I can say [to the states], ‘Hi, we’re from the federal government. We have a great plan—use it.’ But they’re going to toss me out.

“I want to build it from the bottom up, and I want to have it really jointly developed and cost it out. Then, I think we’ll have a high degree of success.”

As always, the devil is in the details, but the FirstNet approach outlined by Farrill and D’Agostino makes a lot of sense. If the state-engagement piece is executed properly, there should be no reason for a state or territory to choose the “opt-out” option, particularly if it is facing a tight budget cycle—something that is the rule, not the exception, in most states.