Motorola Asks NTIA to End Suspension of Public Safety BTOP Grants
Motorola Solutions disagrees with NTIA’s recent decision to suspend Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and waiver jurisdiction public safety projects and urged the agency to reconsider its suspension. The request came from CEO Greg Brown in a recent letter to the agency’s administrator Larry Strickling. Though the decision would slow down local public safety buildout, some state public safety officials saw NTIA’s action as prudent, they told us. NTIA recently suspended seven public safety grants due to concerns like potential interferences with the planned nationwide FirstNet system (CD May 14, p9).
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Interoperability with FirstNet can be reached by ensuring the BTOP deployments follow a standards-based approach versus “driving to the unprecedented level of component interchangeability you propose,” said the letter, which was posted at the FCC in docket PS-1294 (http://xrl.us/bm9ywc). When integrated into the nationwide FirstNet system, standards-based BTOP projects can save cost while accelerating the deployment, it said. Motorola can offer indemnification to NTIA or any public safety agency for equipment currently deployed or to be deployed for any FCC waiver or BTOP grantees if the equipment is determined not to be interoperable with FirstNet, the letter said. The suspension would cost the affected jurisdictions funding and staff time and would delay the deployment of public safety networks, it said.
NTIA is moving forward on a limited basis with these grants to ensure the projects would be compatible with a nationwide network, an NTIA spokeswoman had told us before the Motorola letter was made public. Specifically, the projects will be able to move forward with broadband activities related to non-LTE expenditures, she said. Grant recipients could re-scope their projects and will submit a revised budget indicating changes related to non-LTE activities, she noted. The agency didn’t comment on the letter.
The reality is that there was no legislation to direct the course forward when jurisdictions received waivers and grants, said Charlottesville, Va., Fire Chief Charles Werner. “Whatever decisions made from this point onward must be done cautiously and judiciously” to ensure the long-term success of the nationwide public safety broadband network, he said.
NTIA has been very “communicative” about what it’s trying to do, said Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association. The problem is the agency might not “have as many answers as they would like to have” because the FirstNet board hasn’t been formed, he said. The FirstNet legislation really changed the reality and how the networks would look, he said, saying the suspension is a prudent decision. Vendors might be frustrated but NTIA’s action is responsible, he said. “You don’t want to waste money,” he said.