FirstNet News
Kenzie Capece, Senior Outreach Advisor, joins FirstNet from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC). Kenzie led multiple governance, education, and outreach efforts for state and local public safety. Prior to her Federal roles, Kenzie was a consultant on public safety grants, infrastructure protection, and homeland security policy for DHS for several years. She is based in Reston, VA and can be reached at kenzie.capece@firstnet.gov or (202) 768-2542.
FirstNet continued its participation in State Governance Body Consultation Meetings last week with presentations on May 19 in Colorado and Nebraska. In Colorado, the FirstNet team answered questions from over 40 attendees, including local public safety and elected officials, on a variety of topics such as deployment timelines, quality assurance plans, coverage objectives, and rural coverage.
In Nebraska, over 25 attendees representing multiple disciplines engaged in conversations on the State Plan process and how to get more agencies involved in the Nebraska outreach efforts. The attendees also asked questions about the future of deployables on the network and the conditions in which they can be used. The Nebraska Public Safety Broadband Planning Project Working Group members discussed the current process for data devices training, as well as how to establish a quality of service, priority and preemption (QPP) process for their users.
FirstNet has now completed 14 Governance Body Consultation Meetings.
FirstNet continued its metropolitan engagement strategy last week with a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 40 officials from the Atlanta Police Department, Atlanta Fire Rescue, and neighboring public safety agencies engaged in an interactive discussion with FirstNet and the Georgia SPOC on the key features of the network like prioritization and cybersecurity. In addition, FirstNet and Atlanta officials discussed the city’s Video Integration Center and how FirstNet could help officers in the field receive data from this center.
FirstNet staff and Board Vice Chair Jeff Johnson participated in the Metro Fire Chiefs Association Conference, which concluded last week in Long Beach, California. During the Conference, FirstNet discussed the request for proposal (RFP), consultation, the factors that may affect the timing of public safety adoption of mission critical voice once it’s available over long term evolution (LTE), the importance of maintaining LMR in the immediate-term, and the purpose of FirstNet’s upcoming metro engagements.
Federal Consultation activities for 2016 are ongoing in coordination with the Agency Points of Contact (APOC). The materials for the inaugural Consultation Task Team (CTT) on Quality of Service, Priority and Preemption (QPP) have been provided to the APOCs for agency task team members to review and prepare feedback. Those interested in becoming part of the CTT effort should contact their APOC or the FirstNet Federal Liaison. The CTTs are an opportunity for stakeholders to inform FirstNet network policy development in key topic areas.
Last week, FirstNet published a new entry on its blog: Austin-Travis County EMS Talks Broadband Benefits, ‘Why They Serve’, in response to annual Police Week and EMS Week. Several associations amplified FirstNet’s additional Police and EMS Week materials on their websites, newsletters, and social media feeds, including the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) and the National Volunteer Fire Council. All blog posts can also be accessed through the FirstNet blog landing page at: www.firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog.
To view all of our Police Week content, please see our landing page at: Police Week 2016: FirstNet Recognizes our Nation’s Law Enforcement Personnel. Our EMS week content can be viewed on this page: EMS Week 2016: FirstNet Recognizes our Nation’s Emergency Medical Services Personnel.
This week, FirstNet is participating in the IAFC Fire-Rescue Med 2016 in Henderson, Nevada; the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Communications and Technology Committee meeting in Dallas, Texas; the Montgomery County (MD) Police meetings in Gaithersburg, Maryland; the New York State City/County Management Association Annual Conference in Corning; the IACP Law Enforcement Information Management conference in Dallas, Texas; the Wireless Infrastructure Show 2016 in Dallas, Texas; the Maine Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) Public Meeting in Bangor; the New York PEIS Public Meeting in New York City; the Major Cities (Police) Chiefs Association (MCCA)/Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)/National Executive Institute Associates (NEIA) 2016 Joint Meeting in New York, New York; the Maine Interoperable Communications Committee (Governance Body) meeting in Augusta; the Massachusetts PEIS Public Meeting in Boston; the Connecticut PEIS Public Meeting in New Haven; the Minnesota Governance Body meeting in Shoreview; the Rhode Island PEIS Public Meeting in Providence; the New York PEIS Public Meeting in Albany; and the Vermont Chiefs of Police Association/Vermont Sheriffs Association joint meeting in Fairlee.
News from the PSAC, States and Territories
The PSAC Local Control task team met on Thursday, May 19 to discuss onboarding. They will next meet on Thursday, June 16 to discuss their final initial recommendations for review by the full PSAC.
The PSAC Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) task team will meet on Tuesday, May 24 to wrap up its discussion of federation.
Preparations are underway for the next in-person PSAC meeting, scheduled for Monday, June 6 in San Diego, California. Thank you to those who have registered. An agenda is forthcoming.
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.
Fierce Wireless Tech 5/18: Wells Fargo analysts: Don’t forget the wildcard that is FirstNet
Analysts at Well Fargo Securities are reminding investors that the winner of the FirstNet contract will get access to 20 MHz of nationwide 700 MHz spectrum in the upper D block – representing one of the last ways for carriers to get access to new spectrum outside the secondary market. FirstNet’s deadline to submit final RFP proposals is May 31, and bidding for the FCC’s reverse auction of 600 MHz airwaves is slated to start the same day.
Mission Critical Communications 5/16: FirstNet Completes 55 SPOC Engagement Meetings in 4 Months
http://www.mccmag.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/14269
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) completed 55 state single points of contact (SPOC) engagement meetings between January and April. The meetings re-engaged FirstNet officials with the SPOCs and their leadership teams to lay the groundwork for the remainder of consultation activities in 2016 and future state plans.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet social media continues to grow at a steady pace. Twitter gained over 45 new followers and is now at 3,675 followers, while LinkedIn has 1,513 followers. YouTube now has 272 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 Kenzie Capece at kenzie.capece@firstnet.gov for possible inclusion in an upcoming update