Verizon skips California RFP bid, claims FirstNet, AT&T are ‘rigging the game’
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Verizon skips California RFP bid, claims FirstNet, AT&T are ‘rigging the game’
Like Verizon, AT&T officials expressed gratitude to the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) and the first responders fighting the massive wildfires in the state. In the future, AT&T hopes to serve California public-safety agencies as the provider of FirstNet services in the state.
“AT&T remains honored to have been selected as the FirstNet nationwide partner, and looks forward to continuing to work with CalOES as they consider their decision in California,” according to an AT&T statement provided to IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Our California statewide network, crisis-response, and in-state resources make AT&T the superior choice to deploy the FirstNet network across the state.”
For weeks, there had been considerable speculation about what Verizon would do in California, based on public statements that appeared to be conflicting.
Wiederecht vowed that Verizon would participate in a California alternative-RAN procurement on multiple occasions, most notably during the Oct. 11 meeting of the California First Responder Network (CalFRN) board and during the Nov. 2 meeting of the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS).
But Verizon representatives consistently have expressed opposition to the network arrangement between an alternative-RAN contractor in an “opt-out” state and the nationwide FirstNet system. At the heart of the issue is the requirement that FirstNet public-safety subscriber—in both the “primary” and “extended primary” categories—must utilize the FirstNet LTE core network operated by AT&T instead of a core operated by the alternative RAN contractor in the “opt-out” state.
Officials for FirstNet and AT&T have stated that it is important for all FirstNet public-safety subscribers utilize the FirstNet network core to ensure that first-responder communications are interoperable, are prioritized appropriately, and meet performance metrics and cybersecurity standards. But Don Brittingham, Verizon’s vice president of public safety, has said that Verizon believes that these goals can be achieved in a multi-provider environment, as opposed to having all traffic be processed only by the FirstNet network core.
“AT&T is … wrong in its claim that multiple networks would risk network security, operational complexity or increased latency,” Brittingham said in a statement provided last week to IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “These issues are red herrings designed to discourage states from opting out.”
Brittingham’s assertion is consistent with the position that Verizon representatives repeatedly have expressed: that public safety would benefit from the competition and innovation that would be sparked by FirstNet establishing an environment that welcomes multiple providers.
“States should not be required to use the network core deployed by FirstNet, as such a requirement would put the state in the untenable position of being driven by the interests and decisions of FirstNet’s commercial partner—a condition that would be unattractive to any prospective state commercial partner,” Brittingham said during a hearing before the Pennsylvania legislature.
Of course the whole thing is
Of course the whole thing is rigged and not competitive. It was designed that way from the start.
The opt out process was added because the federal government knew it could never get away with making it a mandate. Offer states the figleaf of voluntary cooperation while making the alternative so onerous that almost no one would be willing to do it.
What I can’t imagine is that anyone is at all shocked or surprised by this.
Gee, no kidding. Seems
Gee, no kidding. Seems Verizon is spot on. Even they know no-net is a boondoggle.
Verizon had the opportunity
Verizon had the opportunity to bid on the original FirstNet RFP and declined to do so. Now that they are trying to cherry pick the lucrative states and can’t overcome the momentum they cry foul?
Am I missing something?
BINGO
BINGO
Exactly! Verizon had the
Exactly! Verizon had the SAME opportunity to bid on the RFP and chose not to. Someone should talk with the Executives that made that decision to understand the “why” part.
Verizon did not bid on
Verizon did not bid on FirstNet. Verizon did not bid on the 600 MHz. Incentive Auction frequencies. AT&T got the FIrstNet bid, and therefore 700MHz Band 14. T-Mobile got the 600 MHz incentive auction frequencies. Verizon enabled their competitors by their inaction. What did they think was going to happen?
What is the true value of 20
What is the true value of 20 MHz of low band spectrum 700 MHz bands really? That depends on how you intend to use it. It seems to me that most are not aware of the fact that low band is not highly desirable for urban densification which is currently the focus of most mature cellular networks operators today. The customers demand for high speed data is mushrooming hence network operators are forced to add more and more wireless facilities (sites) to the existing network to meet that demand.
The challenge of densification with Low band spectrum relates to the physics of RF propagation and antenna design. At a specified power level a Low band signal will propagate much further than High band signal such as PCS or AWS or higher frequencies. This increased propagation range while great for a Greenfield network in allowing for larger inter-site distance now creates limits on the ability to densify the network by adding more similar sites nearby. Building nearby low band sites will cause mutual interference as they operate on the same spectrum. The resulting interference and the low network speed it causes defeats the goal increased capacity by densification.
Additionally at low band frequencies the antenna characteristics needed to properly control the footprint of each site are result in significantly bigger antennas than for PCS or AWS frequencies due to the physics. You are not going to be able to deploy 8 foot antennas on buildings everywhere in most Urban areas, which is generally where you do need the capacity. If the operator does such a deployment using much smaller Low band antennas with their inherent limited directivity the result will a highly interfered radio frequency environment, an RF soup !
VZW did not bid on the
VZW did not bid on the original firstNet RFP. That alone shows how much they care about Public Safety. Now that they see they will have major State and local contracts go away they want to come play.
Anonymous 7 & 10. Why would
Anonymous 7 & 10. Why would they bid. They read the ridiculous business model and say no way. However, they have the nations largest and most reliable network, so why wouldn’t they want to offer service to public safety, just not through the rigged BS no net scam arrangement. Just my 2 cents
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