https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

NTIA still undecided about fate of public-safety LTE projects funded with BTOP money

NTIA still undecided about fate of public-safety LTE projects funded with BTOP money

  • Written by raidee
  • 1st October 2018

In the San Francisco Bay area, the public-safety BTOP grant was awarded to Motorola Solutions—the lone BTOP grantee that was a vendor, instead of a government entity. However, the project was not started, because the Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications Systems Authority (BayRICS) was unable to negotiate a spectrum-lease agreement with FirstNet.

Whether the Bay-area BTOP project is still “active” may be debatable, but the barriers that existed previously still exist today, so it is difficult to imagine a scenario that would allow the planned public-safety LTE deployment to be restarted, according to BAYRICS General Manager Barry Fraser.

“We’re certainly aware of this legislation, we’re looking into it and we have preserved a lot of the pre-planning and the assets from the grant—even more than two years [since the Bay-area project was halted], we could go back and start something quickly,” Fraser said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“But the bottom line is that I haven’t heard anything from NTIA or FirstNet that they have any interest in reviving our project. Until I hear from them, I’m just not going to put a lot of effort into it.”

Perhaps the most intriguing public-safety BTOP project that could be eligible for the five-year extension is in the state of Mississippi. When NTIA froze the public-safety BTOP projects in the spring of 2012 after Congress passed the legislation creating FirstNet, the state’s public-safety LTE network was just “weeks away” from completion, according to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Later, Mississippi was not able to reach a spectrum-lease agreement with FirstNet, and the project was halted.

Whether the Mississippi public-safety LTE project is considered “active” must be determined before the potential five-year BTOP extension could be considered, according to most sources. In addition, the state of Mississippi also would need to convince FirstNet to grant it a spectrum lease to make the project relevant.

But reaching this stage would require Mississippi to alter drastically its current relationship with FirstNet. At the moment, Mississippi is the only state or territory that has not completed its initial state-consultation meeting with FirstNet. In fact, the state of Mississippi also was the only state that chose not to apply for federal grants under the State and Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP) that was established to pay for much of the planning work in a state associated with the FirstNet deployment.

No state-consultation meeting has been scheduled with the state of Mississippi, but FirstNet officials have been in conversations with officials from the state about conducting a consultation meeting, according to a FirstNet spokesman.

Another public-safety LTE early-builder initiative in the United States is being pursued in Harris County, Texas. However, that project is not using BTOP grants, so it is not impacted by the recent action by Congress. In Harris County, a recent decision was made to have local taxpayers fund the expansion of the network.

Tags:

Related Content

  • Don’t Be Left in the Dark: Keeping 911 Going with Disaster Recovery and Resiliency
  • 3 ways cybercriminals are undermining multifactor authentication (MFA)
  • AT&T has locked itself into a risky affair with Microsoft
  • AT&T to offload 5G into Microsoft's cloud

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

AT&T FirstNet unleashes robotic dogs for emergency services dlvr.it/ShW7p8

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Federal agencies infested by cyberattackers via legit remote-management systems dlvr.it/ShVhn3

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShVS1h

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

MCPTT interworking for critical communications dlvr.it/ShTm3P

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

Self-driving cars present terrorism risk, FBI director says dlvr.it/ShTTHx

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

UK Home Office officially will cut ESN ties with Motorola Solutions in December dlvr.it/ShNjfN

24th January 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Police software vendor breach exposes personal data, raid plans dlvr.it/ShN0q2

24th January 2023
UrgentComm

RT @IWCEexpo: We're so excited about our awesome list of speakers! Today we highlight Budge Currier, a 9-1-1 Branch Manager at CAL OES, res…

24th January 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.