Observers anxious for more tangible signs of FirstNet progress
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Observers anxious for more tangible signs of FirstNet progress
A significant problem for FirstNet is one that several legal eagles noted as soon as the ink was dry on the enabling legislation. FirstNet is supposed to be “an independent entity within NTIA,” but no one seems to know that really means from a practical standpoint.
From afar, my guess is that Congress wanted FirstNet to be part of the government for funding purposes but have the ability to act quickly and decisively, much like a private company—a “best of both worlds” approach, if you will. Language in the enabling legislation that exempts FirstNet from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is an indication that FirstNet was never expected to be a “government as usual” entity.
Where did Congress intend for the line to be drawn for FirstNet as an “independent entity” within a government department? It’s not clear in the law, and that may be the problem. It appears that officials in the U.S. Department of Commerce and NTIA have interpreted the law to mean that FirstNet should act as a government entity for just about everything except the FOIA. As a result, the hiring process seems to take forever, and many in the first-response community are concerned that FirstNet procurements could be just as slow, when we get to that point.
There are many potential explanations why FirstNet has not shown more tangible progress in the last two years, but the bottom line is that only operational public-safety LTE network in the United States is an 11-site network in Harris County, Texas, that largely was built before Congress established FirstNet. That network still does not have a long-term deal with FirstNet, and millions of dollars worth of LTE equipment purchased for now-defunct systems in Mississippi and Charlotte, N.C., apparently will go to waste.
In addition, FirstNet has not revealed a business plan or a network design. In fact, states and territories still do not know what asset information they will be asked to gather, so they can begin the data collection needed to prepare to talk in earnest with FirstNet about what the network design for their jurisdictions should entail. Some wonder how much progress FirstNet really should make in this area until a full-time chief technology officer (CTO) is hired.
If there is a silver lining in all of these delays, it is that the lack of progress by FirstNet is not being mirrored in LTE technology and the accompanying LTE ecosystem, which is maturing rapidly. From a technical standpoint, the 3GPP standards body this year is scheduled to approve Release 12 of LTE, which will include many features designed specifically to address public-safety needs. Remaining features important to public safety are supposed to be included in Release 13, which could be approved in 2015.