FirstNet board approves final RFP for early-January release, with bids due in May
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FirstNet board approves final RFP for early-January release, with bids due in May
FirstNet board members today unanimously voted to have the FirstNet staff release the final request for proposal (RFP) in early January, allowing vendor teams that want to build a much-anticipated nationwide public-safety broadband network to submit public-private-partnership proposals that will be due in May.
FirstNet Chairwoman Sue Swenson said that the RFP is the culmination of an “intense process” by the FirstNet board and staff during the past several months, including seven hours of closed-session meetings this week.
“This is a significant event that I think we will all remember,” Swenson said after the board approved the RFP release. “We have more work to do, but this is a big, big step forward to the nationwide broadband network.”
FirstNet Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson, who was among the public-safety leaders who lobbied Congress for years to secure the 700 MHz spectrum and funding for what would become FirstNet, said he has “been waiting seven years” for this. Johnson also noted the open-ended nature of the RFP, which addresses FirstNet’s 16 core statement of objectives but does not dictate the methods used to meet those objectives.
“Now, we have before us a RFP,” Johnson said. “That RFP outlines a portrait. I am anxious to see how industry chooses their palette of colors to paint the picture. I think that, when we receive the proposals back, it is going to paint a picture of how what will be the first-in-the-world nationwide public safety network will look and how it will operate.”
FirstNet CEO Mike Poth said that FirstNet will conduct a webinar detailing the RFP and release the bidding documents early in January—“no later than the second week of January,” Poth said during a press conference call after the board meeting. Potential bidders will have three weeks to ask questions about the RFP, and FirstNet plans to provide responses to those questions within 30 days, Poth said.
Proposals will be due in May 2016, after which the bids will be evaluated and a winning proposal will be selected. FirstNet President TJ Kennedy said that key criteria that FirstNet will consider include offerers’ past performance, proposed network coverage and capacity, the ability to build an ecosystem, and whether the business-management proposal ensures that the nationwide network can be sustained long term.
Although the proposed timeline calls for evaluations to be completed at the end of 2016, Poth said that process could be completed sooner—something that several board members urged, so public-safety users could realize the benefits of the broadband network as soon as possible.
“Obviously, if we have 10 offerers come in [with RFP responses], that will take us longer than if we have three offerers,” Poth said. “There will be opportunities to accelerate the final evaluation period, depending upon the number of final offerers.”
There were two government
There were two government built Public Safety 4G LTE networks operational years before FirstNet was even a reality. Those networks were the by-product of the NPSBN spectrum being available for local government use; and local governments working with their selected vendors to become operational. Adams County Colorado was live on the NPSBN spectrum in 2011 long before the suspension that enabled the creation of FirstNet. Those systems were testing and operating 4G LTE Mobile Data on their networks including existing communication applications and devices.
FirstNet indeed has a history of hard starts. It has also become much more sophisticated in its delivery of information. The RFP while long awaited will be the proof of the pudding. I expect that Public Safety will finally take the initiative on its own to actually evaluate the “Give for the Get” from FirstNet.
The “Give” of the loss of local cost and operational controls; and the actual going from being owner operators of their current Broadband systems ( with their selected carriers); for the “Get” of becoming “Customers” of a national one carrier based system.
Local responders must evaluate their current capabilities of existing Public Safety Responder Broadband Interoperability on a local and practical level; to the promised national Interoperability. The much heralded FirstNet controlled Public-Private partnership and its actual value to local responders is yet to be determined.
The Public Safety spectrum was given over to FirstNet control by Congress before any hint of the FirstNet build out plan was known. Chairwoman Swenson has been very open about how government is “incapable and cannot build out and maintain such a network” as FirstNet proposes. What she does not acknowledge is that Public Safety built and maintained mission critical networks before LTE was even imagined. The actual differences in the infrastructure nuts and bolts of Land Mobile Radio and cellular are very little. The physics are very different in spectrum and current device performance; but the general build-out and maintenance are not.
Let’s truly hope that FirstNet can produce something better than what they have so far. Billions of dollars and precious spectrum are now actually on the table.
I strongly encourage Public Safety to take a very-very hard look at the FirstNet RFP and the responses received. Consider the “Give for the Get”. How much actual control will the local responders have over the final system, applications, device choices, local cost controls, and the loss of competition between capable providers.
The spot light is just now going to finally be on FirstNet’s proposed solution. Public Safety will still have a say if they choose, on a local level, to buy in regardless of what many of the Governor’s determine for Opting In or Opting Out (which FirstNet has proclaimed will be very difficult to do-seems top down driven to me).
Let’s hope for the best.