(Courtesy Paul Kirby, TRDaily News)  The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) board today endorsed a national acquisition approach for deploying and operating a nationwide public safety broadband network, concluding that it would be more comprehensive and serve public safety better than the deployment of regional networks, which FirstNet had also sought comment on in a special notice and draft request for proposals (RFP) released in April (TRDaily, April 24 and 27).

But FirstNet board members and senior managers, clearly sensitive to complaints that they may get from smaller providers, stressed at today's board meeting that there are still likely to be opportunities for rural providers to partner with any national players.  They noted the release today of a list of factors that will be used to evaluate offerors, including whether they have formed partnerships with rural providers and plan to leverage existing infrastructure to speed network deployment in rural areas.

Also at today's meeting, the board approved the release of two public notices that contain 64 final legal interpretations on issues raised in the first two public notices drafted by the authority.

Regarding the decision to pursue a national acquisition approach, FirstNet officials said they were responding to comments they received in response to the special notice and draft RFP, as well as other input, which they said favored a national framework rather than regional construction.

They also said that making a decision on the national framework now would give industry stakeholders more time to explore partnerships and would help FirstNet as it finishes its final RFP, which is still scheduled for release by the end of this year.

"The approach we approved today provides a nationwide solution for a public safety network.  It promotes speed-to-market and partnering among rural, small business, tribal, regional, and national providers," board Chairwoman Sue Swenson said in statement.

"This approach lets the private sector do what they do best to rapidly deploy a network while FirstNet ensures that the network meets the mission of public safety every step of the way," FirstNet Chief Executive Officer Mike Poth said in a statement.  "Further, by approving these critical structural elements of the RFP today, the Board provides more clarity and certainty for potential offerors to plan and prepare for the RFP later this year."

Mr. Poth told the board today that the national acquisition approach "will assure a comprehensive network solution for public safety" that "will deliver a more consistent package of products and services to public safety.  The nationwide solution approach results in an overall economy of the scale, which reduces overall cost and complexity."

But he said FirstNet realizes that "a nationwide provider solution approach may make it difficult to adopt some solutions for small businesses.  This approach does not mean that there is no meaningful role for rural telecommunication providers or small business.  In point of fact, we have listened and intend to incorporate measures in the evaluation criteria addressing the roles of rural telecommunication providers and small businesses."

In addition to coverage and capacity, including rural coverage and partnerships, the evaluation criteria endorsed by the board today address products and architecture, pricing, business management, past performance, and use of existing infrastructure, Mr. Poth noted.

"We believe that by recommending these decisions now, this promotes proactive partnership discussions well in advance of the RFP and it encourages the highest level of small-business and rural telecommunication providers' engagement," Mr. Poth added.

During the meeting, a number of board members also stressed the benefits of a national acquisition approach.

"It is designed to serve public safety in as even a manner as possible," said Houston Mayor Annise Parker.  "But it is not intended at all to … be a single answer," adding that a national partner "will be expected to leverage existing local infrastructure" and provide coverage where there is currently no infrastructure.

"This type of approach is more achievable," said Kevin McGinnis, adding that there "are less opportunities for failure" and greater economies of scale.

Mr. McGinnis, who is the board's liaison to tribes and is a rural advocate from Maine and EMS veteran, added, "I know that there's concern out there about getting stomped on by a larger operator of this network, and I am convinced that tribal telecoms and rural telecoms can be served well by this approach if we build into it the appropriate checks and balances."

Barry Boniface, a private equity investor and telecom industry veteran, said it makes sense to allow companies to decide how to partner "rather than being forced from us."  He added, "We left things in the hands of the right people."

"There will be partnerships," said Neil Cox, a technology executive and telecom industry veteran, adding that a decision now on a national approach will give players the time to form those relationships.

"This approach is designed to allow the private sector to do what it does best," said Suzanne Spalding, under secretary-National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) at the Department of Homeland Security.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said a nationwide approach is the best choice to ensure that the network is affordable for all agencies and gets built in a timely manner.

"We're going to upset some people," board Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson acknowledged.  "There's going to be some people that see their opportunity tarnished or evaporate altogether."  But he said the board is responsible for delivering "a nationwide network for public safety ... and to do so in a timely fashion" and at a price that the smallest agencies can afford and that can handle any possible demand.

Like other FirstNet board members and executives, Mr. Johnson, who is from Oregon, said rural providers will be necessary for the network to be a success.  "They're going to end up at the table here," he said, noting that such providers are the only carriers in some smaller communities.  "At the end of the day, we can't do our job without the small rural telecoms," he added.

Mr. Johnson, who said board members had a "vigorous debate" in closed sessions on the acquisition approach, also highlighted the importance of signaling to stakeholders now what direction FirstNet is taking so they can form partnerships.

FirstNet President TJ Kennedy said FirstNet representatives plan to discuss the national acquisition approach at a two-day meeting next week of state points of contact (SPOCs).

Mr. Poth said FirstNet still plans to release the final RFP before the end of the year, but he also stressed that there is a lot of work still to be done and said, "We may slip the schedule if need be to get this right."  But he added, "There's no indication that there is a problem."

Some smaller providers raised questions about the national approach today, although representatives of those carriers said they were pleased that FirstNet stressed their importance.

"We appreciate FirstNet's acknowledgement of the critical role rural and regional carriers play in ensuring consumers in these areas have access to a robust nationwide public safety network.  Partnering with one nationwide carrier may put more than 100 competitive carriers at an extreme competitive disadvantage if they are left out of the process," said Steve Berry, president and chief executive officer of the Competitive Carriers Association.  "Competitive carriers are often the preferred local choice as they are community-based and already work closely with local public safety officials to ensure their customers have first-rate service during times of an emergency.

"While heartening to see FirstNet recognize the need for inclusion of rural areas, a more innovative and robust inclusion of small and rural carriers should be contemplated," Mr. Berry added.  "CCA members are ready and willing to work with FirstNet and should be given a meaningful opportunity to do so, and I welcome continued engagement.  Further, I strongly encourage FirstNet to be mindful of competitive carriers' need for low-band spectrum – whether through FirstNet or the incentive auction – and should not hamstring these carriers that want to participate in the auction and partner with FirstNet."

Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA, said that her group "and its members have been eager for the opportunity to participate in the FirstNet effort, and we applaud and are greatly encouraged by the specific reference in today's discussions by the FirstNet board to collaboration with rural telecommunications providers in fulfilling the mission of deploying and operating a nationwide public safety broadband network.  NTCA's small business members look forward to playing a meaningful role in furthering the success of FirstNet, especially in rural areas where the networks of these small providers will be essential to achieving that success for the benefit of all Americans."

In response to a follow-up question from TRDaily about whether a regional approach would be better for NTCA members, Michael Romano, NTCA's senior vice president-policy, replied, "We take at face value – and we applaud – the statements by FirstNet that the acquisition approach will 'incorporate rural telecommunications providers' and promote 'partnering among rural, small business, tribal, regional, and national providers.'  Obviously, it will be essential to see the details of how this will be implemented and to make sure that vision carries through to execution.  But we see great promise in the fact that FirstNet expressly called out twice, including in the first sentence of its press release, that its plan specifically seeks out collaboration with small rural providers."

In a July filing in response to the special notice and draft RFP (TRDaily, July 28), NTCA and 11 other rural entities said that in its draft RFP,  "FirstNet has placed all of its proverbial 'eggs in one basket,' as it plans to select one nationwide carrier and/or a limited handful of regional operators to partner with FirstNet to create the NPSBN.  While providing perhaps some ease of administration, this is not the most efficient or effective solution for actual construction, operation, and use of the network.  Rather, consistent with congressional intent, FirstNet itself should act as an integrator, seeking network deployment where it is needed while also leveraging a variety of pre-existing commercial, public, and private assets that have been subsequently upgraded and hardened to meet public safety-grade standards for resiliency and reliability."

In its filing, CCA encouraged "FirstNet to establish an inclusive acquisition process in its final request for proposal.  A nationwide approach, like that described in Category One, will likely exclude competitive carriers from directly participating in the bidding process.  This approach imposes upon an offeror the responsibility for provisioning all 'necessary high-level functions needed to deploy and operate a nationwide solution.'"

"While disappointing, this decision isn't surprising," a representative of a smaller wireless carrier told TRDaily today.  "Given that the spectrum FirstNet will use is adjacent to Verizon's exclusive Upper 700MHz block, there's always been a technical bias toward a national carrier arrangement.  Nonetheless, it will be very difficult for FirstNet to cost-effectively ensure coverage of smaller communities and rural states without relying on regional wireless operators."

None of the four national wireless carriers had comment today on the national acquisition approach.

Bill Schrier, Washington state's FirstNet SPOC and chair of the state's Interoperability Executive Committee, said that "a nationwide approach with incentives for use of smaller carriers or providers" is the best option.  "If FirstNet tried to create regional contracts with different vendors then they'd be stuck trying to integrate them and make them all work together.  That rarely works."

A public safety consultant said that if "a nationwide entity steps up to the plate with an RFP and commits to a nationwide deployment, that would obviously be the optimum solution.  Given the concerns as to whether there will indeed be a solid, nationwide deployment ... a regional approach would allow those who are interested in a deployment sooner than later" to see a build-out, the consultant added.

Meanwhile, the final legal interpretations to be released by FirstNet in two public notices address issues such as the definition of "rural," according to Jason Karp, FirstNet's acting chief counsel.  That definition was teed up in the first public notice.

He told reporters after the meeting that FirstNet has decided to adopt the definition in the Rural Electrification Act (REA) of 1936 and said during the meeting that it would not separately define "wilderness," which had drawn concern from parties.

"When we define rural, we're not defining coverage," he stressed.  "And this was some confusion that we saw in the comments."  He noted that FirstNet plans rural coverage in each stage of deployment, but that the definition would help determine what the milestones would be, "not whether there's going to be coverage or not."

He also said that the use of existing infrastructure must be economically desirable, which could include consideration of a number of factors in addition to cost, such as the time to deploy, hardening, interoperability, and compatibility.

Mr. Karp also said that FirstNet had concluded that states that decide to build their own radio access network (RAN) must still comply with FirstNet's network policies, and that revenues from states assuming RAN responsibilities and having excess revenues must be reinvested into the nationwide system.  Those issues were explored in the second public notice.

Overall, he said of the final interpretations, "I think for the most part ... we've stayed pretty true to the original interpretations that we made.  ... Hopefully, this will give everyone a very clear road map for moving on."

FirstNet officials are still mulling issues related to the definition of "public safety entity," Mr. Karp said.  "We're still in consultation," he added.  That issue was addressed in the first and third public notices.  There is no timeframe for a final interpretation on that issue, Mr. Kennedy said, but he stressed that FirstNet would ensure that traditional first responders would have access to the network.

Mr. Schrier said he agreed that "[t]here must be network policies which are established for the entire network including any radio access networks built by opt-out states.  We cannot have a truly nationwide and interoperable public safety wireless broadband network if, for example, different parts of it are using different releases of LTE or even, perhaps, different patch levels or features.  However FirstNet cannot create such policies in a vacuum.  It has to consult with states before creating such policies and, indeed, before State Plans are delivered to Governors.  ... Perhaps FirstNet should have an advisory committee of state governments (especially the opt-out ones) to help it make such policies and make such decisions."

"In terms of using revenue streams from more populous states to build out areas with lesser population, this seems like a logical step," Mr. Schrier said.  "Certainly this is the way commercial carriers have operated."

"While it is understood that the success of FirstNet in less populated areas is dependent upon funding from the sale of excess capacity in densely populated areas, FirstNet is making a grave mistake in assuming that the states will just concede all revenues to FirstNet without first ensuring that their own public safety officials have a best in class network and the devices with which to use it," another public safety source told TRDaily.  "It is also short-sighted on FirstNet's part to assume that less populated areas will not generate substantial income from excess capacity sales.  ... The promise of broadband connectivity in areas that commercial carriers refuse to build can open doors to business and recreational activities that are, as of yet, undiscovered."

The source also expressed concern about the network policies interpretation, saying, "If FirstNet shuts out the states when determining its network policies or attempts to set them without providing the states with a governance structure to voice their concerns and approve the policies, the system will likely go unused and be a dismal failure."

Derek Poarch, executive director and CEO of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International, said that his group "generally supports today's actions of the FirstNet Board, and appreciates the hard work of the Board members and staff as FirstNet grows closer to issuing its final RFP.  We look forward to reviewing the details of today's decisions as well as FirstNet's continued progress."

Meanwhile, FirstNet plans to release on Oct. 5 a special notice on cybersecurity, according to FirstNet spokesman Ryan Oremland.  It includes a draft of an appendix referred to in the draft RFP. – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com.