FirstNet should be applauded for keeping its promise, delivering final RFP on time

But simply issuing an RFP is not a reason for mass celebration; that should be reserved until the substantial FirstNet deployments are operational or at least until bids are received.

After all, public safety is all too familiar with reaching this stage without realizing the end goal. In 2008, the 700 MHz was designed to partner public safety (represented by the Public Safety Spectrum Trust, or PSST) with a wireless carrier to build a nationwide broadband network for first responders, but no qualifying bids were received.

Some have speculated that we could see a repeat of 2008, with no vendor teams (I can’t imagine any single entity doing this alone) responding to the FirstNet RFP, which would leave public safety without a broadband network once again.

But this FirstNet initiative is very different than the 2008 effort led by the PSST, which had no money, no staff and little time to conduct extensive outreach to the public-safety community. There was some tremendous work done by public-safety representatives at the time—some of which continues to be leveraged today—but it was done on an all-volunteer basis. In addition, the notion of mobile broadband data was in its nascent stages, with the iPhone only a year old and LTE was a technology standard that had not been deployed.

In contrast, FirstNet has the benefit of considerable qualified full-time staffers dedicated to the mission. LTE now is a mature technology with a tremendous ecosystem, and a suite of public-safety-specific features should be included in the standard next year. And, while $7 billion in funding is not nearly enough to pay for a nationwide broadband network by itself, it is substantial enough to get industry’s attention.

Of course, the devil is in the details, and we won’t know about those until the RFP is released next month. But the fact that FirstNet will be able to issue this RFP in a timely manner is huge accomplishment, and all involved—board members and staff—deserve plaudits for making it happen under challenging circumstances.