Mid-Atlantic States Ramp Up FirstNet Preparations with Regional RFI

"We're really looking for the vendor community to reply to it,” Grubb told us of the group’s first RFI. The representatives from the half-dozen jurisdictions of MACINAC have discussed how to craft such an RFI since the middle of last year, he said. The MACINAC Initiative includes Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia, all part of Federal Emergency Management Agency region 3. The coordinators talk by phone every couple weeks, Grubb said.

"We're interested in any information that'll help us,” said FirstNet board member Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association and FirstNet’s head of outreach, of the MACINAC RFI. Such information is “beneficial and necessary,” he said. The FirstNet board doesn’t “have a predisposition” on whether states should or shouldn’t take a regional approach like MACINAC has done, he said.

These state interoperability coordinators expressed support for FirstNet, despite what Grubb called some “distrust” that arose in recent months. “There’s not a true state representative on FirstNet,” he said of its board. The board member representing state interests, Teri Takai, is a federal employee, said Grubb. At the most recent FirstNet meeting, board member Paul Fitzgerald, former National Sheriffs Association president, slammed the board for a lack of transparency and insufficient collaboration with public safety (CD April 24 p1). Grubb said that among the state coordinators, “the conversations are generally in support of Fitzgerald” and his opinions. Grubb said several board members come from industry, and referred to FirstNet Chairman Sam Ginn and new FirstNet General Manager Bill D'Agostino.

"I know where he’s coming from,” said Maryland State Interoperability Director Ray Lehr of Fitzgerald’s concerns. Lehr said he knows Fitzgerald “very well” and praised his dedication to public safety. When the FirstNet board presented conceptual architecture at its first meeting last fall, it “raised eyebrows” among coordinators and “seemed like it was a cart-before-the-horse situation,” he said. Lehr also mentioned the concern that Takai, previously California’s chief information officer, is now a federal employee, and the “backlash” from the National Governors Association on state representation on FirstNet. Lehr said the coordinators are not “in any way questioning the qualifications” of Takai overall. “We're not ready to give up on FirstNet but would like to see a little more outreach."

Johnson, however, said FirstNet is “all ears,” and described six regional meetings coming up in association with NGA, the first in mid-May. “Our goal is to share where we're at,” he said. He said NGA recommended his appointment and that he has a good sense of what concerns states may have. He declined comment on board appointments, saying that’s the purview of the U.S. Commerce Department. FirstNet will also be starting its individual state visits soon, initiating discussions on what’s realistic and what’s not, he said. Those visits are intended to include at least one FirstNet board and staff member, and may include discussions of the FirstNet grant process, the tribal component and rural coverage, he added. “Each state has uniquenesses.”

MACINAC plans to release two RFIs. The first, just released, digs into FirstNet elements “less likely to be impacted by FirstNet’s subsequent technical decisions,” the document said. A second phase will start “after FirstNet has convened and provides direction regarding technical specifications,” said the document. “The second RFI phase would focus on the remaining aspects of the network, i.e. those that deal with the remainder of the radio access network.” That would encompass LTE equipment and operations as well as devices, it said. After those two RFIs, the consortium “intends to determine whether to issue an RFP to implementing [sic] a cooperative procurement process to cover its member States,” it said.

This first RFI includes 13 questions, with responses due May 27 to Grubb. The questions ask what available assets these states should collect information about, loading and backhaul requirements of LTE sites and how to rapidly deploy assets to augment coverage and capacity during disasters. It sought information about what services would benefit subscribers of a public safety network and how they'd want to use it. The consortium also asked about how the network should be funded, such as by lease payments or subscriber fees, and refers to the necessity of making a business case for the network. The states also asked about potential partnerships. “As of the date of publication, the District of Columbia is in the process of considering its endorsement of the MACINAC Initiative charter and this RFI,” Grubb said in a request footnote. “The District expects to complete that process within the next month.” The consortium shared the RFI with FirstNet prior to posting it, Grubb said. The jurisdictions of MACINAC encompass 128,000 square miles and include plenty of critical infrastructure and key utilities, it said in its phase-1 RFI.

"If the RFI process yields sufficient results, it is likely to act as a roadmap for other states to follow and may drive the formation of regional partnerships,” Deltek public safety analyst Joanna Salini wrote in a blog post (http://bit.ly/12tleH8). “The decision to take a regional approach could make for a more attractive grant application since regional projects often receive more attention and funding than localized projects.” Sequestration and recession effects may make this important, she said. But the multistate coordination “may also create difficulties for the project as larger projects are more prone to stagnation and exploding budgets, as seen with LA-RICS [Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System] and New York’s statewide wireless network,” she said.

Both Grubb and Lehr emphasized the importance of regional coordination in moving forward with FirstNet, as well as overall support for a successful network. The MACINAC states initially sought to submit one joint application for NTIA’s FirstNet State and Local Implementation Grant Program, which were due earlier this year, Grubb said. Each jurisdiction had to submit individually, however, he added. The coordinators have agreed that some grant funding will go toward the MACINAC effort, Lehr said. He called the effort “a good clearinghouse” and a “real benefit” that didn’t exist before, prompted by such national disasters as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina. The $7 billion slated for FirstNet is commonly seen as insufficient, Lehr added. He pointed out that perhaps the network could save money if the FEMA region 3 states of MACINAC shared a radio access network.

"We think the information here will be of great value to FirstNet,” Grubb said. MACINAC has provided input to FirstNet throughout NTIA’s requests for information last year. These states aren’t trying “to do our own thing” with this RFI so much as “we need to be prepared for these conversations with our chief executives,” Grubb said of the ongoing conversations with state governors and the question of opting in or out of FirstNet. “We're trying to move the ball forward with FirstNet and not against them.”