Top carriers may have reservations about participating in FirstNet bid, analyst says

Robert LeGrande, owner of The Digital Decision consulting firm that is working with several states in the consultation with FirstNet, said he believes that FirstNet needs to clarify several important details before a carrier or other potential bidder can feel comfortable bidding in the final RFP stage.

“How much spectrum is available to a carrier to leverage—and the terms and conditions of the use of that spectrum—are critically important,” LeGrande said. “If that’s not a part of the final RFP, … it will be very difficult for a carrier or provider to make a predictable business case that they could build a business on.”

In addition, LeGrande—who complimented FirstNet on its “phenomenal” progress during the past year and the draft RFP documentation—said he believes FirstNet should be as “flexible as possible, within reason” to let some states assume more operational responsibilities, if leveraging existing capabilities is beneficial to the overall system.

“I’m not blind to the fact that would make it more complex,” LeGrande said. “States and locals are the ones currently running their communications and saving the vast majority of lives that are saved today in our country. I think, within that framework, they have a unique perspective and capabilities that can be fully leveraged … to make this even more of a network than it is planned to be today.”

There also are cost considerations within the operational aspects of the draft RFP that would impact public-safety entities, according to Ryan Burchnell, chief technology officer for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. While FirstNet “rightly” placed the responsibility for devices and the support for those devices—for instance, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) management, shared-device management, local user provisioning and administration—some budget-challenged entities may have difficulty paying for these tasks.

“In smaller agencies, they may not be being done, or there may not be resources in smaller agencies to handle those types of issues, especially when you get into volunteer fire departments, who would be—I would think—one of the primary users of BYOD devices, and they would have the least capability financially or technically to manage these devices,” Burchnell said..

“So, it’s very important for our public-safety user base to comment on these issues and for FirstNet to be looking for ways to support those smaller public-safety agencies through technical assistance or potentially through excess grant dollars.”