Morgan O’Brien reflects on dismissed bid for nationwide FirstNet contract, potential for public safety

It’s interesting to note that the government chose a somewhat-novel procurement type that is called “objectives based.” This means that each bidder was free to devise a recommended approach for each of 16 objectives laid out by FirstNet. For the monumental task set for them, this methodology enabled much more flexibility and encouraged much more innovation than the more traditional “specifications” type of contract. So, high marks to the team for making that choice.

What it meant for us, since we were a “clean sheet of paper” consortium, was that we could propose a “clean sheet of paper” business plan; we had no existing business model into which we needed to fit. I enjoyed this process immensely, because we were able to begin with the overarching principle of designing the “best of the best” for public safety, with all other considerations becoming secondary to that foundational framework. If you know something about the history and tribulations of the existing environment for many public-safety systems, you can identify with our satisfaction in ignoring all of that and aiming instead for the fences.

Throughout my long career in wireless, I have come to know many talented people. Crafting the response to this RFP presented a unique opportunity for me and my colleagues to reach out and stand up our own “dream team” of partners and vendors to propose a consortium as the contractor to FirstNet. While one or two we had hoped to include were missing, I can say with pride and gratitude that we stood alongside some of the best companies on the planet (some traditional wireless and others not) as we took on this huge assignment. The scope of capabilities needed was truly amazing; it required us to bring together very diverse and complementary talents that we found in many great and multifaceted organizations. I hope someday to have the chance to identify them all publicly and thank them for teaming with us. Anyone with experience building a large enterprise knows how gratifying it is to see disparate talents from wide-ranging fields of expertise come together in pursuit of a single dream. All of us relished the satisfaction of doing that here. As a bonus, the team at pdvWireless has learned from, and formed lasting relationships with, talented folks from across the consortium, as well as building upon existing relationships with many distinguished leaders in public safety.