Public Safety Advocate: Rural Broadband, the Headless Horseman!
Why the Headless Horseman? The more complex issues are outlined below, but the simple answer is that there has never been more interest in extending broadband into rural America than…
NTIA
Public Safety, Industry Entities Weigh in on NG-911 Grant Program
Public safety and industry entities have weighed in on proposed regulations for a next-generation 911 (NG-911) grant program, including on who should be eligible for funding, whether tribes should be…
NTIA Releases Funding Levels, Governors Have Until Dec. 28 To Make FirstNet ‘Opt-in/opt-out’ Decisions
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) releases construction-grant funding levels to FirstNet, which will deliver the figures to most governors tomorrow—an action that means these governors will have until…
NTIA releases information about SLIGP 2.0 grants to states, territories for FirstNet purposes
States and territories can apply for their shares of State and Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP) 2.0 funding that could total as much as $43.4 million and can be used…
NTIA Does Not Release State Funding Levels, Pushing ‘Opt-in/opt-out’ Deadline Deeper Into December
Most governors will have at least until Dec. 21 to decide whether their states and territories will “opt-in” to FirstNet or pursue the “opt-out” option after the National Telecommunications and…
FirstNet Updates State-plan Portals, But Missing NTIA Funding Levels Mean 90-day Decision ‘Clock’ On Hold
FirstNet updates the state-plan portals, but official state-plan delivery—the action needed to start the statutory 90-day decision window for most governors—must wait until the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)…
FirstNet Rejects FOIA Request for State Plan Information, AT&T Contracts
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) rejected a request for records from an attorney who specializes in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, saying the Middle Class Tax Relief and…
FirstNet Is Delivering More Than We Imagined
By Anna M. Gomez As Deputy Administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), I was privileged to work with tremendously talented people in the Obama administration and…
NTIA Issues Final Rule For Its Review Of FirstNet Fees
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) publishes its final rule outlining the criteria and processes for it annual review of fees established and collected by FirstNet—a review that will…
Public Safety Advocate: June 2017, Important Month for Public Safety Communications
Welcome to the first Public Safety Advocate column from our new web-home AllThingsFirstnet.com. After you read this week’s advocate take a look around the site, there is more to come…
PSA Discovery Patterns Weekly News Summary
Fri Jul 22 11:06:07 2016 NTIA Publishes State Opt-Out Guidelines This week NTIA released a document that will have a significant impact on states considering opting out. The NTIA’s document,…
PSA Opting Out of FirstNet
Thu May 26 19:47:39 2016 Each state has the right to opt out of the plan FirstNet and the selected partner vendor presents to it. However, it the state does…
PSA Discovery Patterns Weekly News Summary
Fri Feb 26 13:57:04 2016 Okay, I am confused. FirstNet posted its responses to the first one hundred of the four hundred questions it received between the time the RFP…
FirstNet and the Inspector General’s Report
Let’s hope that what comes out of this is more independence for FirstNet, leaving FirstNet to pick up the pace and get this network in the ground and operational.
Is Partnering with FirstNet Possible?
As I see it, no meaningful private discussions means no partners. No partners means no more money for the network. No more money for the network means at some point FirstNet will not be able to continue to function, which means Public Safety will have lost the most important opportunity it will ever have to fix its interoperability problems.