FirstNet faces monumental challenge as state consultations get set to begin
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FirstNet faces monumental challenge as state consultations get set to begin
FirstNet has not made any decisions regarding a business/usage model or a network design. The good news is that means all options are still available. The bad news is that some key decisions need to be made in one of these areas before significant progress can be made in the other.
FirstNet officials indicated in March that they were looking at network designs requiring between 12,000 and 36,000 sites. That’s a huge range, but it makes sense, if all business-model options are still being considered. Still, many industry observers expressed disappointment that more solid estimates were not available.
Similarly, some expressed disappointment at the notion that the complete state-consultation process will take more than a year, meaning FirstNet will not be able to begin deploying its first-responder broadband system in earnest until at least the latter part of 2015.
Given the fact that such a public-safety broadband network has never been built before and the lack of a business model or network design, the idea of having state consultations begin with focus on some basic concepts and evolve via an iterative process of at least five in-person meetings makes sense. And, when you consider the complexities outlined above—barely scratching the surface, in all likelihood—getting all issues hammered out in close to a year would be a significant achievement.
In other words, without a business/usage model or a network design—the chicken or the egg—already in place, this could take awhile. Then again, with only one opportunity to do something that’s unprecedented, it is far more important that FirstNet get done right than to get it done quickly.