FirstNet Board Picks General Manager, But Clearance Could Take Several Weeks
The federal FirstNet board picked a general manager Monday, almost four months after it received 27 applications from interested individuals. But the board did not release a name, and won’t until background checks are complete, a process expected to take as long as three weeks. Meanwhile, in another public safety development, eighth-floor FCC officials said they held almost no ex parte meetings with industry or public safety officials prior the vote scheduled for Wednesday on an NPRM on improving 911 liability and the resilience of communications networks in light of the lessons learned from last year’s derecho wind storm.
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In a Dec. 11 meeting, the board selected Craig Farrill, co-founder of Kodiak Networks and a board member, as interim manager. Farrill said then he would start hiring staff to help start the $7 billion national network (CD Dec 12 p1). An official said Monday that Farrill has hired some outside consultants to help with outreach and business and technical planning, but no full-time staff.
The FirstNet board met by phone Monday to discuss the general manager decision and budget matters. The meeting was the first by the board since last week’s hearing by the House Communications Subcommittee, where FirstNet Chairman Sam Ginn faced tough questions from lawmakers (CD March 15 p5). Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said then he has “great doubts” about FirstNet’s ability to create a nationwide interoperable network.
After a brief opening statement, Ginn took the board into closed session, as federal law permits, he said, to discuss personnel and budget issues. “We're not going to be able to give you a name today, but we are going to be able to give you a decision,” he said.
Ginn reopened the call to the public about 50 minutes later. “I'd like to apologize to you for taking so long, but this is a fairly independent board and it has to express its own views,” he said. “It does that.” The board then voted unanimously to elect an undisclosed candidate who still faces background checks.
The board also approved an expenditure of $1 million to cover the expenses of hiring a general manager and staff and to cover the cost of outreach, a step the board took in a unanimous vote. The board next approved a resolution to approve the submission of the FirstNet budget to the Office of Management and Budget so it can be looked at by the administration for submission as part of the president’s annual budget. Board member Kevin McGinnis, CEO of North East Mobile Health Services, voted no on that resolution.
The FCC will take up a public safety item of its own Wednesday. The NPRM draws few tentative conclusions and mostly asks questions about the four major conclusions of the January staff report (http://bit.ly/13qFhc7) on last June’s derecho storm (CD March 2 p2). The Republican offices in particular asked for tweaks to the NPRM, to keep it open-ended, but not major changes, officials said.
FCC officials also told us that although the NPRM could mean additional regulations for carriers, few industry representatives sought meetings prior to last Wednesday’s sunshine notice on the meeting. “This has been kind of plodding along,” an agency official said. “There’s a potential for it to be regulatory ... but it’s not that controversial just yet.” A second official noted that “generally there are fewer meetings on NPRMs than on final orders, especially when the NPRM doesn’t contain a lot of specific proposals like this one.”