FirstNet General Manager Bill D’Agostino: We need to hear from you

By Bill D’Agostino

This Saturday, Feb. 22, marks the two-year anniversary of the creation of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). But it feels like an eternity, considering how far we’ve come in such a short time.

Congress was clear in the historic task it assigned FirstNet: to develop plans for and operate a nationwide, broadband network dedicated to public safety. But as a startup organization, FirstNet’s challenge has been to translate that visionary blueprint spelled out in the law into the reality of a one-of-a-kind nationwide, interoperable network.

The FirstNet board was named in August 2012, and the first board meeting was held a month later. For months, we had limited resources to accomplish the mission, but now we are focused on staffing up the team to be successful.  

Seventeen months later, we’ve assembled a balanced and talented management team—from both industry and government—with vast experience in building wireless networks, project management, public safety, finance and the law. And today, we’re continuing to build out our team that will assist us with outreach, communications, state consultation and development of state plans. We’re hiring as quickly as possible, so keep an eye on USAjobs.gov for job postings.

Our work so far has been focused on putting the foundational building blocks in place for getting this network up and running. We want to get the job done as expeditiously as possible, but we have one opportunity to get it right and we understand this tremendous responsibility. That’s why we’re investing countless hours mapping out our business strategy and operating plan.

Helping to inform us in that effort are the more than 300 responses we received to 12 Requests for Information (RFIs) on the technical details of building this public-safety network. We issued an RFI for devices last May and then issued 10 RFIs last July on two crucial portions of the nationwide public-safety network: the radio access network (RAN) and core network. The most recent RFI issued last November was on application platforms. We’re still digesting the information we received from a wide range of stakeholders on all of these issues, and they will greatly assist us as we work to develop our plans