January 26, 2017–AT&T, Inc., is optimistic that it will win a contract with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to build and maintain a nationwide public safety broadband network, a company executive says. “We know that we are an approved bidder, and we’re optimistic about our opportunity, but we don’t know the answer to that yet,” John Stephens, AT&T’s chief financial officer and senior executive vice president, said during a fourth-quarter 2016 earnings call yesterday (TRDaily, Jan. 25).

Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chairman and CEO, suggested during the call that if it wins the FirstNet contract, AT&T might accelerate the deployment of the network if Congress approves tax reforms. AT&T has said it believes there were three bidders in total for the FirstNet contract. pdvWireless, Inc., which submitted a bid on behalf of the Code3 Broadband consortium, said last October that it was notified that it was no longer in the running for the contract (TRDaily, Oct. 18, 2016), while Rivada Mercury LLC has sued the U.S. government because it says it was wrongfully excluded from the procurement process (TRDaily, Dec. 2, 2016). – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily