Inspector General cites FirstNet contracting issues during first year

In the joint reply, FirstNet, NTIA and the Department of Commerce acknowledge that “administrative errors were made” and that the entities all concur with the recommendations of the IG office to address the perceived shortcomings. However, the joint reply also notes that the IG report “does not identify any violations of conflict-of-interest laws or circumstances that actually affected FirstNet decision making.”

Jim Hock, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Commerce, noted that many of the problems cited in the IG report resulted from the fact that FirstNet was a startup organization—one in which board members were taking operational responsibility, because FirstNet did not have a staff.

“As in any startup organization, we recognize that in the early stages of FirstNet there were administrative missteps and areas where documentation could have been improved,” Hock said in a prepared statement. “We concur with the [IG] report’s administrative recommendations, most of which are in place already.

“These issues, however, were specific to the unique circumstances that existed during FirstNet’s early startup operations, and we continue to take the steps necessary to ensure the integrity of the ethics program and contracting policies and procedures utilized by FirstNet. FirstNet today is on the right path toward meeting its statutory obligations and deploying a public-safety broadband network for the nation’s public-safety personnel.”

FirstNet Chairwoman Sue Swenson issued a statement through a blog post on FirstNet’s website. Swenson said organization leaders agree with the report’s recommendations and that many have already been implemented.

“FirstNet is a unique organization, charged with a significant task—to build the first-ever broadband network for the nation’s public-safety community,” Swenson wrote in her blog. “No organization has accomplished what we have set out to do. We acknowledge some administrative missteps were made in the early days, and we have taken and will continue to take steps to address them.”