FirstNet Opens Path for Resurrection of Seven Suspended BTOP Grantees

"What looked like a problem early on, we have seized ... as an opportunity, and one I think that will really work for us,” said board Chairman Sam Ginn, a retired telecom executive. He praised the lessons the board can learn and emphasized interoperability as the big concern driving the board’s consideration. The board met in Boulder, Colo., its third meeting since its creation in August. The National Institute of Standards and Technology operates a facility there and has done “quite a bit of research for FirstNet” on network standards, Ginn said, describing presentations the board had heard from institute officials.

"At NTIA, we're extremely pleased the board has been able to conduct this review in an expeditious manner,” NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling told the board after the resolution passed. The resolution met the two criteria that concerned NTIA, he said -- keeping money in the communities and ensuring FirstNet interoperability.

FirstNet board members and staff voiced concern for these projects’ fates for months and visited all seven of the project locations in November and December, they said. Project leaders, meanwhile, have complained of tens of thousands of dollars of potentially stranded costs as equipment sat unused, contracts fell to the wayside and facility costs for storing equipment added up (CD July 19 p4). The FirstNet board will have 90 days to work out agreements with the grantees on their spectrum licenses, then would execute those agreements and transmit the data to NTIA. NTIA will decide whether the projects come online again.

"We are pleased to hear of the FirstNet Board’s announcement for getting our BTOP project back on track in the San Francisco Bay Area,” BayRICS Authority Interim General Manager Barry Fraser told us by email. “I must say I'm impressed with FirstNet’s speed in reviewing these projects and reaching a decision. While there are still many details to work out, we're eager to hit the ground running on the spectrum lease, so we can continue this project that will meet the critical needs of Bay Area Public Safety and the communities they serve.”

"That [FirstNet legislation] substantially altered the landscape for these seven grantees -- they know that better than anybody,” said FirstNet board member Sue Swenson, leader of the board’s BTOP working group. All seven grantees want to continue their work, she said, saying the board has judged all seven to demonstrate finances sufficient to continue and appropriate levels of compatibility with the mission of FirstNet. Their deployment will lead to “the sharing of very specific lessons learned” and “substantial benefit” from each, she added. She described the board’s chance to review their public safety apps deployment, billing and provisioning elements and issues relating to the network standards. “It’s important to note we will have FirstNet people on the ground” to ensure alignment with FirstNet.

Any additional costs possibly incurred by what will ultimately be at least a year of partial suspensions will be handled on a “case by case” basis, Swenson said in response to questions. Fraser wasn’t initially concerned about the San Francisco project: “We've done a pretty good job of conserving our resources during this down time, so I don’t anticipate any large funding shortfalls,” he told us. “We will need to reevaluate our existing contracts and MOUs [memorandums of understanding] for sites and infrastructure, but hopefully we won’t incur significant additional costs in getting everything back up to speed. Of course, if FirstNet or NTIA impose new requirements or conditions on the project that create new costs, that would be a different matter."

Board members also focused on its communications strategy, its hiring progress and approved its first annual report to Congress (http://xrl.us/bogi7j). “We will be beginning our state visits in the immediate weeks following this meeting,” said board member Jeff Johnson, leading outreach for the board and also Western Fire Chiefs Association CEO. He described a busy schedule: communicating with governors, six regional meetings FirstNet’s hoping to attend, 20 additional conferences on the books before July 1, 56 visits throughout the states on a planned listening tour and a hackathon planned for the second quarter of this year to “inspire innovation” in the apps community and more, he said.

There’s a timetable for outreach, with vendor outreach to increase later in the year, Johnson said, acknowledging “frustration” voiced among some stakeholders (CD Jan 29 p8). “We were careful not to communicate before we had something to communicate,” he said. First priority is outreach to state and local entities, then public safety, he said, noting vendors will come in 2013’s second quarter with a “robust plan” including monthly webinars. Current plans include building up FirstNet outreach staff, partnering with others and branding, he explained: “We need a logo, we need business cards, we need a letterhead.”

Board members also discussed its search for a general manager, a hunt narrowed from about a dozen candidates in January to four choices now. The board passed a resolution (http://xrl.us/bogjdw) allowing action based on unanimous written consent. “We need to make decisions between board meetings,” Ginn said of that resolution, saying he doesn’t expect to make frequent use of the ability. The board hopes to release a tentative business plan, which digs into the financial and technical aspects of the network, by its next meeting, said board member Craig Farrill. The co-founder of Kodiak Networks urged expediency: “We don’t want to spend six or seven years building this network,” he said, citing the significance of the BTOP projects coming online and rolling into FirstNet.