FirstNet ‘linked at the hip’ with 911 community, plans to hire 911 expert, Swenson says

DENVER—FirstNet may be focused on developing a nationwide broadband network for public-safety personnel in the field, but the organization has been working to ensure that its efforts align with those of the 911 sector, which also is migrating to an IP-based, next-generation platform, FirstNet Chairwoman Sue Swenson said last week.

In a keynote speech delivered at the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Conference & Expo, Swenson noted that FirstNet and NENA are helping lead migration efforts that promise to transform public-safety communications. Those complementary initiatives are aligned in many ways:

• “In terms of technology-modernization, we are working to update a voice-centric LMR technology, and I think you’re doing the same in your particular community. We’re all moving to an IP-based architecture, so we share that goal, in terms of making that happen.
• “We also both have a national focus. This is not a regional focus; it’s a national focus. We want to bring broadband connectivity to both rural and remote [areas], as well as urban.
• “A third area that we’re aligned in is improved emergency response. We are both seeking to enhance the communications for first responders and responses for public-safety assistance.
• “Lastly, planning and governance—we’re aligned, because we both require planning and governance to ensure successful deployments.”

Ensuring that FirstNet and next-generation 911 operate in a complementary manner is critical to the future of public safety, which is one reason why Trey Forgety—NENA’s director of governmental affairs—is a member of the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) that reports directly to the FirstNet board, Swenson said.

“This is not a situation where FirstNet and NENA have to do anything differently,” Swenson said. “We’re actually pretty linked at the hip, in terms of thinking about what your community needs relative to what we are doing. You’re providing a lot of input to us, in terms of our request for proposal, so we’ll make sure that the right infrastructure is designed and that the right requirements are in the RFP, so that we don’t have to do something after the fact.

“I equate it to something like building a house. If you’re building a house and you’ve got everything designed, but you forgot to think about the alarm system and you have to come back after the fact and actually put in the alarm system, [it is more difficult]—we don’t want that. We want to make sure that your requirements are actually built into the FirstNet network.”

A further indicator that FirstNet plans to work cooperatively with the 911 community is the fact that the organization will hire an emergency-calling expert to serve on the FirstNet staff—something FirstNet Acting Executive Director TJ Kennedy announced last month–Swenson said.

 “We have a lot of interaction with this community—both with Trey and on an ongoing basis with our technical staff—but I think that having this 911 expert will be an additional bit of support for this community,” she said.