Unanswered questions loom as governors prepare to make ‘opt-in/opt-out’ FirstNet choices
It should be noted that the questions outlined above have not been addressed—as far as I know—based on questions asked during the past several weeks to representatives of FirstNet, AT&T, states and other stakeholders. However, it should be noted that some of these questions require answers being approved at multiple levels of the federal government and a very large corporation in AT&T.
Even when answers may be formulated conceptually, getting all the necessary approvals—particularly when a topic involves potentially stick legal ground—can be difficult and time-consuming.
In addition, it is possible that some answers could be included in the state-plan portals or during private exchanges that would not be shared with me. Frankly, I hope that is the case, because it would mean that governors have the information they need.
However, my conversations with sources involved in the FirstNet process indicate that the questions outlined here have not been addressed at any level. If so, that is unfortunate and should be corrected as quickly as possible.
Few would question that the law creating FirstNet established an “opt-out” process that promises to be extremely difficult to complete, even under ideal circumstances and with all information readily available—complicating the issue with uncertainty around key points is counterproductive to all involved. With this in mind, it is important that governors and their advisers be provided all of the data points necessary to make the kind of informed “opt-in/opt-out” decision called for repeatedly by FirstNet leaders during the past several years.