https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • WHY ATTEND
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Registration Opens April 2019-Join Our Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

View From The Top


FirstNet is not a master of its own fate

  • Written by
  • 7th October 2014
Overreaction by some within the federal government to allegations made by former FirstNet board member Paul Fitzgerald have cost the organization valuable time in its quest to design and build a nationwide broadband network for public safety.

What is in this article?

  • FirstNet is not a master of its own fate
  • FirstNet is not a master of its own fate
  • FirstNet is not a master of its own fate

FirstNet is not a master of its own fate

Hiring from within the federal government would have been the easiest way to bring people into FirstNet. However, there were, in reality, no federal employees with any broadband wireless network experience. Very few federal-government employees could be found that even had public-safety communications experience, so that option was rejected.

The next option would have been to hire full-time staff but the board was informed that the government hiring process was complex and protracted, taking six months or more for each hire. In most cases, hiring would have to be sequential, meaning it would take up to two, three or even four years to bring the organization to critical mass.

The final option was to hire contractors. The federal government has been using contractors for ages. It can hire a contractor for a task and then end the contract, and then it can hire someone else for another task and so on. Thus the concept was approved by the board, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). Unfortunately, NTIA did not have a contract officer to hire the contracting agency, so the task of putting the contract in place was assigned to another DOC agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The FirstNet board did provide names of engineers and subject matter experts they had confidence in and, in some cases, had previously worked with. But, again, you build a team of those you know can do the best job in the fastest and most efficient way. Yet the contractors were vetted and hired not by FirstNet but by NTIA.

Remember that FirstNet does not, to this day, have a checkbook or a payroll account or any way to pay out any type of funds. All of the funds needed to run FirstNet are approved and disbursed by those within the federal government who are charged with making that happen.

I know from my own hire as a FirstNet contractor that people within the federal government who were not part of FirstNet handled the entire process. My security clearance process was run by yet another subcontractor who was paid by the federal government to check me out and make sure I was suitable for a contract with the federal government. I was notified by the contracting agency that my contract has been approved, not by FirstNet.

Further, the contractor work assignments were under the direction of FirstNet, but the contractors were paid by another government agency through that agency’s contractor. This resulted in delays and some bad miscommunications.

As an example, the last month of my contract with FirstNet was December 2013. I was asked by my FirstNet boss to travel and to work every day until my contract expired on Dec. 17 of that year. Yet when I turned in my time card for that period, the contracting agency—after checking with the NTIA—cut out more than $17,000 of money due me for my work. I was told that I had not been authorized by NTIA to work so I should not have worked the hours as directed by FirstNet. I was never paid for that time.

Those at FirstNet did not have—and, it appears, still do not have—control over who is hired and paid. Part of the federal government’s overreaction to Fitzgerald’s allegations was to take multiple actions that ended up costing FirstNet more than a year’s worth of effort, causing those who are now at FirstNet to spin their wheels and duplicate much of the work that had already been done. The bottom line is that NTIA and DOC signs and administers all FirstNet contracts, not FirstNet and its board of directors.

FirstNet was formed by Congress as an “independent authority” within NTIA, yet it is not operating as though it is independent. Rather, it is saddled with procedures, processes, rules and regulations that no other network operator in the United States has to deal with. FirstNet is, in reality, a multi-billion-dollar wireless network operator for public safety, but so far it is being viewed by some as an NTIA project, tightly coupled to the federal government and all of its bureaucracy and complexity.

FirstNet is not a master of its own fate
1 | 2 | 3 |
FirstNet is not a master of its own fate
Tags: Legislation Regulation Commentary NIST/PSCR NTIA/FirstNet Policy Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet View From The Top Commentary

Related Content

  • New T-Band rules impact LMR licensing activity
  • Nokia, Lenovo shake hands on patent deal
  • Newscan: Single sign-in for government services expands to states, localities

Commentary


Unlocking the power of ESInets: Different NG911 provisioning approaches exist; level of control is key differentiator

7th April 2021

Ransomware? Let’s call it what it really is: extortionware

21st February 2021

Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces

18th February 2021
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Public Safety Technology Alliance (PSTA) to shut down dlvr.it/RxpbTh

16th April 2021
UrgentComm

Klobuchar pledges support for NG911 funding, does not address specifics of proposal dlvr.it/Rxp4Wp

16th April 2021
UrgentComm

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #criticalcommunications and #publicsafety trends? Sign up for IWCE's Urgent C… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

15th April 2021
UrgentComm

Ubiquiti’s latest hack highlights troubled security path for operators dlvr.it/RxkzLj

15th April 2021
UrgentComm

Dependency problems increase for open-source components dlvr.it/RxkffD

15th April 2021
UrgentComm

How smart environments will take shape post-COVID-19 dlvr.it/RxkVPH

15th April 2021
UrgentComm

RootMetrics 5G report puts AT&T in first place dlvr.it/RxkVKD

15th April 2021
UrgentComm

Newscan: Cincinnati to pay $6 million to settle suit in death of Kyle Plush who called 911 dlvr.it/RxfsSd

14th April 2021

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X