FirstNet News
The Tribal Team participated in a meeting of the Indian Country Intelligence Network (ICIN) in Arizona on March 15 to discuss the FirstNet program. Also present was the director of legislative affairs and tribal relations for the National Tribal Emergency Management Council (NTEMC). ICIN is an international, intertribal organization whose data sharing policies and practices are successfully resolving hesitations to share data among tribal elected leaders and public safety officials. Additionally, on March 16, the Tribal Team provided a FirstNet briefing to the Board of Advisors of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA). The 184 American Indian nations that are voting members include some of the most influential and politically active tribes in the country.
FirstNet’s four Board Committees and the full FirstNet Board held an open meeting on March 16. To view all materials from that meeting, please click HERE. During the meeting, FirstNet announced that the Band 14 Spectrum Relocation Grant Program was published on March 16 on grants.gov. This program will provide financial assistance to eligible public safety entities for relocating their existing radios and systems from Band 14 in advance of the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network.
On March 16, 10 federal agencies participated in the March Federal Agency Point of Contact teleconference. FirstNet Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) staff presented on FirstNet’s expected applications ecosystem, agency-developed applications, and the value of such applications to public safety stakeholders. Additionally, the User Advocacy team discussed the proposed federal consultation task teams.
Recently, FirstNet launched a new FirstNet Tumblr blog series titled, “A Day in the Life: Stories of Broadband Saving Lives and Protecting Communities”. With the new blog, FirstNet is looking forward to telling the stories of first responders from all parts of the country. FirstNet has been learning through consultation and outreach efforts that many law enforcement, firefighters 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 four new entries on its blog: Texas FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Exercise; Minnesota Hosts Well-Attended SPOC Kick-Off Meeting, Establishes Plans for Continued Outreach; Local Control and the NPSBN; and Tech Talk: 3GPP Makes Major Progress with MCPTT. 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 “Digital Northwest: A Broadband Summit for Regional Broadband Leaders” meeting in Seattle, Washington; the Pennsylvania Regional meetings-Southcentral Mountain Task Force; the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada; and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. FirstNet, its Department of Commerce partners, and many State partners are speaking at several sessions at IWCE 2016, which are listed below. Please visit the IWCE Conference Program for a full listing of workshops and sessions.
Tuesday March 22 Sessions
o 8:30am-11:30am, “Evolution of FirstNet” in Room N261
o 1:30pm-2:15pm, “3GPP Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk Standards Update” in Room N259
Wednesday March 23 Sessions
o 10:00am-11:15am, “Economics of Building and Sustaining FirstNet” in Room N253
o 11:30am-12:45pm, “Next Phase of FirstNet Consultations” in Room N253
o 1:45pm-2:30pm, Keynote Address by FirstNet CEO Mike Poth
o 2:45pm-4:00pm, “Early Builders of FirstNet-Ready LTE Networks” in Room N253
o 4:15pm-5:00pm, “Cybersecurity Considerations for FirstNet” in Room N259
o 4:15pm-5:00pm, “FirstNet Breaking News/Townhall” in Room N253
Thursday March 24 Sessions
o 10:00am-11:15am, “The State of the States: FirstNet and Public Safety Broadband” in Room N253
o 11:30am-12:45pm, “Priority, Pre-emption and QoS: Local Control of FirstNet” in Room N253
o 12:30pm-1:00pm, “Town Hall Meeting 7: NTIA Office of Public Safety Communications (OPSC) Update” in the Keynote area
o 1:15pm-2:00pm, “Town Hall Meeting 8: Meet the FirstNet SMEs (Subject Matter Experts)” in the Keynote area
o 2:00pm-3:15pm, “The Legal and Regulatory Issues: Opting In or Opting Out” in Room N253
o 3:30pm-4:45pm, “FirstNet Consultations’ Roundtable-Vision versus Reality” in Room N253
Friday March 25 Sessions
o 9:45am-11:00am, “Access Authentication, Identification and Verification” in Room N253
o 9:45am-11:00am, “Getting and Using Grant Money” in Room N258
o 11:15am-12:15PM, “FirstNet Trials Case Studies” in Room N253
News from the PSAC, States and Territories
The PSAC held a webinar on March 15 attended by 26 PSAC members, FirstNet staff and Board members to review the ICAM and Local Control task team work to date and preliminary recommendations. The webinar also highlighted key Request for Proposal (RFP) and consultation dates/actions, discussed future national and PSAC-related meetings, and provided updates on the Early Builder Working Group (EBWG) and the TWG.
On March 17, FirstNet convened a briefing with PSAC association staff in Washington, DC. PSAC Chairman Chief Harlin McEwen and Executive Committee member Chief Niles Ford were in attendance, along with User Advocacy staff and representatives from 10 associations. This briefing discussed the current PSAC task teams and working groups’ progress, along with RFP and State consultation timelines. Attendees also received a presentation on the State and Local Grant Implementation Program (SLIGP) data collection successes and FirstNet communications efforts with key public safety stakeholders.
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 3/16: FirstNet initiates $40 million grant program to relocate 700 MHz narrowband systems by August 2017
FirstNet today announced a $40 million federal grant program that is designed to help 15 public-safety entities move their existing LMR operations from the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum that is licensed to FirstNet. The goal is to clear those airwaves by August 2017 for use by the contractor that will build and operate the proposed nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN).
Urgent Communications 3/21: Final set of answers to FirstNet RFP questions addresses pricing, opt-out network performance
Public-safety users of FirstNet will receive “most favored customer” pricing and have a uniform customer experience throughout the system, including areas served by opt-out state networks, according to the final set of answers to written questions submitted to FirstNet about its request for proposal.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet social media enjoyed steady traffic and new users/followers. Twitter gained 33 followers and is now at 3,345 followers, while LinkedIn has 1,400 followers. YouTube now has 230 subscribers, and Google+ is holding at 67 users.