Walden Concerned About Lack of States’ FirstNet Representation

Chris McIntosh, interoperability coordinator for the Virginia Office of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, said states are “understandably nervous that the combination of increased cost and insufficient funding will result in the uncovered cost being passed on to the state and local governments.” As a result “states need the ability to define the level of partnership that they will engage in with FirstNet,” he said. McIntosh and Ray Lehr, director of the Maryland Statewide Communications Interoperability Program, said the FirstNet board appointee who was supposed to represent states does not currently work for any state. The appointee in question was Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Teri Takai.

Walden asked FirstNet Board Chairman Sam Ginn why the board did not include any state representation and why it had selected a federal employee to represent state interests in the development of FirstNet. Ginn said Commerce Department Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank was responsible for Takai’s appointment, but he felt Takai was an “absolutely” competent appointee and previously was CIO for the states of California and Michigan. But “we want someone representing the states’ interests,” argued Walden. “This feels like an insider deal to me in terms of the federal government representing somebody that it is not.” Walden said FirstNet’s development was not his “preferred approach” but said he was “encouraged” to hear Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., say during Tuesday’s FCC oversight hearing the FCC should conduct its oversight of the broadcast spectrum auction in a way that maximizes participation and revenue. “I agree that this will best ensure our public safety objectives are met,” Walden said.

After the hearing, an NTIA spokesman said in an email the FirstNet board “surpasses” the requirements of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, “with four members representing state and local interests.” “The Board includes retired fire chief Jeffrey Johnson, who was nominated by the National Governors Association; Teri Takai, a former CIO of two states; former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb; and Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, who represents local and rural interests,” the spokesman said.

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., defended Takai’s appointment to the FirstNet board: “She definitely understands the state focus. … This board is really just starting to form, to a great degree, and I think it is really very important that we have the best people there who understand what is going on at the state level.” Matsui asked Ginn if he would work with states to answer the questions and concerns they have prior to the point where they must determine whether to opt out of the network. Ginn said the FirstNet board plans to spend “a lot of time” trying to understand the concerns and requirements of state public safety officials. “If you don’t satisfy your customers you don’t succeed. So the idea that we are somehow not interested in our customers’ requirements is just not true.”

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., asked Ginn to explain what major policy-related impediments have arisen during the preliminary stages of FirstNet’s development. Ginn said the government’s acquisition and procurement rules should be “greatly” simplified. He said federal rules can extend contract negotiations by a year and a half, which is “way beyond” timelines in the commercial world. Secondly, there are rules which complicate negotiations when more than two carriers are involved that can delay the process by “months and years,” he said. “It greatly reduces our flexibility.”

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he continues to have “great doubts” about FirstNet’s ability to create a nationwide interoperable network. “It is not all peace and love. I am skeptical of this whole concept.” Barton asked Ginn what will happen to the investments made by the Harris County, Texas, authority which received an FCC waiver this month to continue its work on a public safety broadband network in the 700 MHz band. Barton said the county was told it would have to give its current assets to FirstNet and questioned whether it would eliminate the states’ statutory authority to opt out. Ginn said he was unsure of what would happen to the county’s investment but said the issue of opting out is “not so important. … What is important is getting a national architecture in place so you have interoperability, that you have cybersecurity, that you have network standards. Who builds it and who owns it is less important to me as long as we have those principles in place.”