Some key questions that potential bidders want answered in FirstNet’s RFP

What are the cybersecurity requirements? FirstNet conducted a proceeding this fall to get input about its strategy to ensure cybersecurity of the new network and its data, but no announcements have been made about the chosen approach. There may not be much detail on this in the RFP, but potential bidders will pay careful attention to any wording that outlines big-picture responsibilities and/or penalties.

What are the legal liabilities assumed by the winning partner? The idea that performance incentives or penalties will be included in the final agreement between FirstNet and the winning partner is expected, and some of these may be identified in the RFP.

However, no potential bidder wants to run the risk of being sued every time something goes wrong in an emergency response that can be attributed to a communications glitch. This is an unprecedented venture, so there’s going to be a notable amount of risk involved for any FirstNet partner, but no bidder also wants to assume the possibility of spending more time in court than operating the network.

Agencies and vendors associated with 911 largely are shielded from such litigation, and anyone bidding on FirstNet likely will demand a similar arrangement—unlimited legal liability could be an immediate deal breaker for potential bidders. It’s unclear whether legally can be addressed in the RFP or whether it is something that will require an act of Congress or state legislatures, but it is something that needs to get done.

How is the winning bidder decided? The beauty of the FirstNet procurement approach is that it allows bidders a great deal of flexibility, so they can use innovative approaches in their proposals. A potential problem with this strategy is how does the evaluation team—a source of mystery itself—select a winner between bids that take completely different approaches to meeting FirstNet’s statement of objectives? In short, how do you compare apples to oranges?

Establishing objective criteria for selecting a winning bidder could prove to be critical. Not only will clear criteria help the evaluation make the “right” choice of a FirstNet partner, but also should help FirstNet avoid the scenario that everyone dread: a protest of the bid award that ties up the network deployment for months or years as a legal battle is played out in court.

By no means is this a comprehensive list of questions that people hope will be answered in the RFP, but they are among the most repeated by industry sources familiar with entities interested in participating in the bidding process. Meanwhile, there are a number of other questions that ought to be answered but cannot be addressed in the RFP for various reasons, such as timing, technical capabilities or legal jurisdiction. But that’s a column for another day.