FirstNet board approves budget for 2017 fiscal year

FirstNet board members last week voted to approve a $6.585 billion budget for fiscal year 2017, although only $85 million is expected to be used for the organization’s operations for the upcoming year. The remaining $6.5 billion will be disbursed to the contractor building FirstNet’s nationwide public-safety broadband network when deployment thresholds are met during the next several years.

Not surprisingly, the budget for FirstNet’s upcoming fiscal year—beginning on October 1—is a noticeable departure from budgets of previous years, when the organization was focused on planning and preparations associated with its request for proposals (RFP) process to select a contractor. With the selection process slated to be completed in the next three months and network deployment to begin next year, “this [2017 fiscal year] is going to be a very different year for us,” FirstNet Chairwoman Sue Swenson said during the budget board meeting.

In the new budget, FirstNet has $84.65 million in operating funds, while $6.5 billion will be reserved for the contractor in a network construction fund by the U.S. Department of Treasury, according to law.

Although the $6.5 billion is included in the 2017 fiscal-year budget, the vast majority of the funds will not be disbursed during the 2017 fiscal year. According to terms outlined in the RFP, the $6.5 billion will be transferred to the contractor as it meets a series of buildout targets associated with coverage and network capabilities—a process that is expected to take five years.

FirstNet CEO Mike Poth said the evaluation team is working to evaluate proposals from bidding teams, at least three of which—led by AT&T, Rivada Mercury and pdvWireless—have publicly acknowledged their participation in the selection process.

“We are still working feverishly away at that, and we are still targeting an award in the November timeframe,” Poth said during the board meeting. “There’s lots of work to do to make sure that we have a solution that’s going to make sense and that it’s a win for public safety, a win for our states and agencies, a win for our industry partner, and certainly a win for FirstNet and the federal government.”

FirstNet’s board is not scheduled to meet again until Dec. 13-14 in Sacramento, but Poth said he expects to convene the board before that to inform members about the contractor recommendation.

“I anticipate, probably in the early-November timeframe, to ask the board to deliberate and weigh in on a recommendation from staff asking the board for this partnership,” Poth said.