FirstNet News
User Advocacy continues its preparations for the Spring 2016 single point of contact (SPOC) Meeting on April 12-13 in McLean, Virginia. The two primary goals of the meeting will be to (1) provide clarity on the State plan development delivery process and expected timeline and (2) officially launch the Quality of Service, Priority and Preemption (QPP) Consultation Task Team (CTT). A number of other topics will be briefed and discussed over the two-day meeting. An email with the final agenda and logistical information will be sent to registered attendees later this week.
FirstNet will be holding a Federal Open House on April 14, 2016 in Washington, D.C. at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Federal stakeholders will have the opportunity to receive updates on FirstNet’s consultation and technology efforts in 2016 and beyond. The event will be open to all federal ID card holders and other interested parties in the National Capitol Region. Invitations and information has been distributed through the Agency Points-of-Contact (APOC).
FirstNet’s Tribal Team met last week with the Montana Indian Nations Working Group (MINWG) and state’s SPOC office. The chairman of the MINWG is also a delegate on the Tribal Working Group (TWG). The Tribal Team, accompanied by CTO staff, also met with the Sioux Tribes of South Dakota and was joined by that state’s SPOC office as well as the Navajo Nation. Among notable interactions were discussions about changes pending to laws governing tribal rights-of-way access; pursuing a Native American youth science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) internship within the CTO office; and involving the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s’ Association (GPTCA) on the TWG.
FirstNet conducted a QPP CTT pilot in Austin, Texas on March 30 with the 15-member Texas CTT. FirstNet staff presented both a high-level QPP introduction and a detailed review of the proposed QPP framework. Also included in this pilot was a robust facilitated Q&A regarding the challenges of initial static provisioning, programming of the dynamic controller to account for changes in user roles and profiles, future computer aided design (CAD) integration, and envisioned interoperability of the network. The meeting concluded with an overview of the QPP CTT survey, through which the Texas CTT offered substantial feedback to FirstNet staff.
SPOC 2016 Engagement Kick-Off Meetings continued last week in Florida and Puerto Rico. FirstNet has now completed meetings in 52 out of 56 states and territories. The State plan process continues to be a widely discussed topic at these meetings. This week, FirstNet will hold its SPOC Kick-Off Meeting with North Carolina. Moving ahead, FirstNet will advance its 2016 Consultation baseline activities by participating in State governance body meetings and coordinating metropolitan area engagements to better prepare for executive consultation.
Recently, FirstNet launched a new FirstNet Tumblr blog series titled, “A Day in the Life: Stories of Broadband Saving Lives and Protecting Communities”. In the new blog, FirstNet will be telling the stories of first responders from all parts of the country. FirstNet has learned through its consultation and outreach efforts that many law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical service personnel are currently using broadband in some capacity to do their jobs. Do you have a story of broadband use at your public safety agency? Please share with FirstNet. More information can be found here: http://www.digitalgov.gov/2016/03/17/firstnet-launches-tumblr-seeking-stories-of-public-safety-broadband-use/.
Last week, FirstNet published two new entries on its blog: Mission Critical Voice Roundtable Brings Together FirstNet, PSCR, and Public Safety and The FirstNet RFP: 16 Objectives, No “Hidden Requirements”. All blog posts can also be accessed through the FirstNet blog landing page at: http://firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog.
This week, FirstNet is speaking at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Homeland Security Committee and the Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP) Business meeting in Washington, DC; the Texas Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO)/National Emergency Numbers Association (NENA) conference in Galveston, Texas; the National Emergency Managers Association Preparedness Committee meeting in Alexandria, Virginia; a Texas border visit with the Texas Department of Public Safety and US Customs and Border Patrol in McAllen, Texas; the Navajo Telecommunications Commission Site Tour and Commission meeting in Window Rock, Arizona; the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) public meeting in Tamuning, Guam; a Rhode Island Interoperable Communications Committee meeting in Warwick, Rhode Island; the Texas Emergency Management conference in San Antonio, Texas; the Tennessee Consolidated Network for Emergency Communications and Technology (TN-CNECT) Leadership Committee meeting in Nashville, Tennessee; and the NEPA PEIS public meeting in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.
News from the PSAC, States and Territories
The PSAC Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) and Local Control task teams held a combined meeting on March 31. They discussed profiles, roles and attributes, and the different components of each that inform the work of their respective task team moving forward.
The PSAC will be represented at the SPOC meeting by Executive Committee members, Early Builder Working Group members, and TWG members.
Media Watch
*The information provided is copied as-is from the media outlet source and is not edited by FirstNet. Links to non-Federal Government websites do not constitute endorsement of any product, service, organization, company, information provider, or content. Clicking on non-Department of Commerce hyperlinks will direct you to websites that are not under the Government’s control.
Urgent Communications 3/31: FirstNet receives multiple capability statements, ‘optimistic’ about RFP competition. http://urgentcomm.com/public-safety-broadbandfirstnet/firstnet-receives-multiple-capability-statements-optimistic-about-rf
FirstNet today received multiple capability statements from potential offerors—the strongest indication to date that there will be bidders vying for the right to build and maintain FirstNet’s much-anticipated nationwide public-safety broadband networks (NPSBN).
“We received multiple capability statements from industry,” a FirstNet spokesperson said in a prepared statement. “We’re optimistic this means it will be a competitive process moving forward.”
RCR Wireless 3/29: FirstNet Gains Momentum http://www.rcrwireless.com/20160329/network-infrastructure/lte/firstnet-gains-momentum-tag6
Even a year ago, FirstNet still seemed largely theoretical as it went through the planning process. But, with the agency having released its request for proposal in January, and expecting to make an award of its $6.5 billion for the design and construction of the network in early November, the focus of vendors has sharpened considerably even if they don’t plan to bid for the overall contract. That new level of interest and expectation, and new energy around the practicalities of a separate wireless broadband network for public safety, was evident at last week’s International Wireless Communications Expo in Las Vegas.
Urgent Communications 3/29: FirstNet deserves kudos for high-profile role since RFP release, including at IWCE 2016. http://urgentcomm.com/blog/firstnet-deserves-kudos-high-profile-role-rfp-release-including-iwce-2016
LAS VEGAS—Throughout FirstNet’s procurement process, organization officials have stressed the importance of conducting a request-for-proposal (RFP) process that is not tainted by conflict-of-interest issues or other integrity questions that could lead to a legal protest that might delay deployment of the proposed nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). Given this, there was some speculation that FirstNet might “go into hiding”—a phrase that FirstNet CEO Mike Poth used during his keynote address at IWCE 2016 last Wednesday—after releasing its RFP in January. After all, the best way to avoid making a misstatement is to say nothing at all.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet social media enjoyed steady traffic and new users/followers. Twitter gained 42 followers and is now at 3,423 followers, while LinkedIn has 1,427 followers. YouTube now has 247 subscribers.
Do you have something you want to feature in the weekly update, such as a conference date, personnel announcement, or news article showcasing the work of your organization? Please send it to Yancy Edwards at yancy.edwards.ctr@firstnet.gov for possible inclusion in an upcoming update.