Annual Report Outlines Year of Progress Leading to Launch of FirstNet Network

By Ed Parkinson, Director of Government Affairs, First Responder Network Authority

Each February – the month that Congress established FirstNet – we submit our annual report to Congress on the progress FirstNet has made to deliver the nationwide public safety broadband network.

As we look back to Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 17), I am proud to say that FirstNet is now a reality. Major steps were taken to deliver on the promise of an interoperable, wireless broadband network to help first responders save lives and protect communities across the country. This is the network that public safety fought for – a network with true priority and ruthless preemption services that will evolve as wireless technology evolves.

While there is much work to be done, the First Responder Network Authority accomplished three significant goals on its path to deploying FirstNet in FY 17: the award of the FirstNet contract; the delivery of State Plans and subsequent opt ins; and significant steps toward network operations and innovation for public safety.

This article was written by Ed Parkinson and appears on the FirstNet.gov site.

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