FirstNet Background
The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012’s Public Safety Spectrum Act (the “Act”) established FirstNet and charged it with creating, deploying, and operating the NPSBN in the 700 MHz spectrum band. The Act directed the FCC to license the 758-769/788-799 MHz band to FirstNet on a nationwide basis for use by the NPSBN. In addition, the Act called for a “single, national network architecture,” consisting of a core network and a RAN. The Act allowed States to choose to participate in the Network as proposed by FirstNet or deploy their own RAN. The Act designated the Commission as the entity responsible for approving or denying State alternative RAN plans while NTIA will decide on applications for grant money for State plans that are approved by the FCC.
In late March 2017, FirstNet selected AT&T as the provider to build and manage the Network under a 25-year contract. FirstNet will provide 20 MHz of spectrum and success-based payments of $6.5 billion over the next five years to support AT&T’s build out of the NPSBN. AT&T will spend about $40 billion over the course of the contract. First responders will have priority and preemption rights of use on the Network. A few days before the June Open Meeting, FirstNet and AT&T provided initial versions of the customized buildout RAN plan to each State for them to evaluate, as discussed below.
Opt-out Notification Process
Under the Act, if a State chooses to opt out of the FirstNet RAN plan, the State must notify FirstNet, the NTIA, and the FCC of the decision and then submit an alternative RAN plan to the FCC for its approval. This Order implements the Act’s provisions regarding a State’s notice of intention to opt out as follows:
- FirstNet must immediately notify the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (“Bureau”) when it provides the State with notice of the final State plan.
- Upon receipt of this notification from FirstNet, the Bureau must issue a Public Notice formally commencing the 90-day opt-out period.
- A State Governor or the Governor’s duly authorized designee must be the one to provide an opt-out notice should a State make that decision. The notification should include a certification that the State is providing “simultaneous notice of its opt-out decision to both NTIA and FirstNet.”
The Order also requires a State to certify that its alternative RAN plan adheres to FirstNet technical interoperability network policies and support such certification with specific references to corresponding sections of the RFP and/or bid responses.
FCC Assessment of Alternative Plans
The FCC’s review of State alternative plans will apply a two-prong test to assess
- Whether the Plan is compliant with recommendations from the Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability; and
- Whether the Plan demonstrates interoperability with the Network.
The Order also explains that FirstNet filed with the FCC, on an ex parte basis, an interoperability compliance matrix with technical standards to inform how the FCC could consider whether a State plan was interoperable with the NPSBN. FirstNet urged the FCC to limit its consideration to recommended requirements numbered 4 and 5 of the 3GPP LTE Standards, Interfaces, and Guidelines section from the May 2012 FirstNet Technical Advisory Board Report which deal with hardware and software systems that are a part of the NPSBN supporting access point names, a connection gateway between a carrier’s cellular network and another network (often the Internet). Specifically, recommendations 4 and 5 state:
- Hardware and software systems comprising the NPSBN SHALL support access point names (“APNs”) defined for public safety application network (“PSAN”) usage.
- Hardware and software systems comprising the NPSBN SHALL support nationwide APNs for interoperability.
Upon review of the resulting record, the FCC intends to issue a subsequent order clarifying the considerations that will guide its review of alternative plans.
FCC Evaluation Procedure
Every State alternative plan will be placed in a separate FCC docket with access restricted to the relevant State, FirstNet, and the NTIA. At the end of the 90-day opt-out period, the FCC will issue a Public Notice listing all States pursuing approval of alternative RAN plans. At that point, members of the public wishing to comment on a particular State plan may petition the FCC for leave to intervene as a party based on a presentation of an interest that is not already represented by the State government, FirstNet or the NTIA.
The Bureau will conduct initial reviews of States’ alternative plans as they are filed. Within ten business days of receipt of a State plan, whenever possible, the Bureau will determine whether it meets the baseline requirements and is, thus, accepted for filing, issuing a Public Notice in such cases. After the Public Notice, recognized parties to the restricted proceeding, including NTIA and FirstNet, will have 15 days within which to provide comments then the State will have 15 days to amend or respond. The Public Notice will also trigger an aspirational 90-day shot clock for the FCC to make a final decision about the application.
FirstNet Individual State Plans
State Governors will have up to 45 days to preview the FirstNet plan and engage in feedback with FirstNet before the official 90-day opt-out notification period starts to accrue. Some states, including New Hampshire, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Alabama, Wisconsin, and California, have already issued RFPs for their RAN but the States say they have made no decision and are merely exploring options. AT&T has indicated that States that opt in early could start accessing FirstNet capabilities at some point in 2017 via AT&T’s commercial wireless network in advance of the NPSBN being deployed. AT&T has expressed its desire to have 100 percent state participation but it remains to be seen whether the perks AT&T is offering will eliminate any desire to opt out.
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It’s a busy time at FirstNet, gearing up for the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN). With yesterday's release of a Federal Funding Opportunity for up to $40 million for the Band 14 Incumbent Spectrum Relocation Grant Program (Grant Program), FirstNet is making headway in fulfilling its mandate under the Middle Class Tax Cut and Job Relief Act of 2012. The Grant Program will assist public safety entities currently operating in 758 MHz-769 MHz and 788 MHz – 799 MHz, also known as Band 14, to relocate their communications operations to other frequencies allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), providing FirstNet with the unencumbered spectrum necessary to deploy the NPSBN.The FCC issued FirstNet a license for Band 14 to develop, deploy and operate the NPSBN. At this time, a number of public safety entities around the country operate on the Band 14 frequencies. To ensure that this spectrum is unencumbered for the successful deployment of the NPSBN, these entities will be required to relocate their communication operations from Band 14 to other frequencies allocated by the FCC. During yesterday's FirstNet Board meeting, FirstNet Chief Executive Officer Mike Poth said that the Band 14 incumbent public safety agencies already have plans for how they will relocate; they just need the funding. FirstNet established the Grant Program to facilitate the relocation and enable these affected public safety entities to continue operations without interruption. Applications have until May 16, 2016 to submit an application.
Public safety entities currently occupying Band 14 frequencies will be able to apply for grant funds to cover the costs associated with retuning and reprogramming communications equipment. FirstNet will only consider the procurement of new communications equipment (i.e. radios, vehicle repeaters, fixed site repeaters, antenna combiners) by incumbents if the application clearly demonstrates that the retuning or reprogramming of existing equipment is not cost effective or cannot be achieved due to equipment obsolescence.
Applicants receiving grant funds will be required to establish a project plan, develop and meet key milestones within the 12-month period of performance (likely August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017), to show progress, and other activities as determined by FirstNet. FirstNet anticipates up to 15 public safety incumbents will be eligible for the award with award amounts varying by estimated project costs.
FirstNet intends to make award decisions by July of this year.
If you have any questions about the Grant Program or FirstNet, please contact Jennifer Holtz at [email protected] or your Kelley Drye communications attorneys.
]]>FirstNet released its final Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a Contractor to build and operate the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN), as authorized by the Middle Class Tax Cut and Job Relief Act of 2012 (Act), and fund FirstNet operations. The RFP is the result of input to more than 13 Requests for Information, two public Industry Days, and a year of dialogue with the public safety community. The RFP provides for a single award, Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with fixed price payments. In exchange, the winning contractor gains access to 20 MHz of contiguous 700 MHz spectrum and the ability to lease excess network capacity to secondary commercial users, receiving up to $6.5 billion in funding from FirstNet. FirstNet envisions a 25-year public-private partnership, suggesting that solutions may include "various partnerships and business arrangements that monetize new public safety market offerings via devices, applications and other value-added benefits and services." FirstNet plans to select a contractor by the end of the year.The Funding
What's unique about this RFP is that the winning bidder will receive up to $6.5 billion in funding from FirstNet but the winner will have to make regular payments to FirstNet based on the following estimated costs that FirstNet expects to incur over the life of the contract, including base operating and general administrative costs: at least $80 million during the first five years, $130 million in year 6, $205 million in year 11, $305 million in year 16, and then $430 million each of the last five years. Any revenue FirstNet generates from these payments will be reinvested in to the network. This will also account for the Contractor's proposed total amount of payments for all 56 States and Territories. Should a State or Territory "opt-out," the Contractor's payments to FirstNet will be adjusted accordingly.
One factor which will affect the payments flowing from FirstNet to the Contractor is how many States and territories decide to "opt-out" and deploy, operate and maintain the Radio Access Network (RAN) within their own State or territory. For those states and territories that "opt-out," the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees the quasi-independent FirstNet, reserves the right to administer a RAN construction grant program. FirstNet will reduce the Contractor payments for each State or territory that notifies FirstNet of its intent to deploy its own RAN. The onus is on the Offeror to propose the payment adjustments. NTIA will not finalize the RAN Construction Grant amount until after FirstNet awards the RFP.
The Solution: An Objectives-Based Approach
Specifically, FirstNet seeks a “comprehensive network solution covering each of the 56 states and territories,” which includes: "the deployment and provisioning of a nationwide Core Network (Core), and RAN services; backhaul, aggregation, and the use of national transport networks and operation centers; a device ecosystem; use of network infrastructure; deployable capabilities; use of operational and business support systems; an applications ecosystem; network services; and the integration, maintenance, operational services, and ongoing evolution of these systems required to function fully as an operational wireless 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards-based Long Term Evolution (LTE) NPSBN."
What's unique about this RFP is FirstNet's approach, which is an objectives-based model rather than a traditional requirements-driven model. This means that FirstNet is requiring offerors to achieve broad objectives through innovative solutions not limited by any particular type of solution or type of entity. FirstNet directly states that the RFP is open to all entities, "whether traditional wireless incumbents or new entrants." The rationale for using an objectives-based model is to provide industry with the "maximum opportunity and flexibility in the development of innovative solutions for the NPSBN."
The winning bidder must meet sixteen objectives:
- Building, deployment, operation, and maintenance of the NPSBN
- Financial sustainability
- First responder user adoption
- Device ecosystem
- Applications ecosystem
- Accelerated speed to market
- User service availability
- Service capacity
- Cybersecurity
- Priority services
- Integration of state-deployed rans
- Integration of existing commercial/federal/state/tribal/local infrastructure to support NPSBN services
- Life-cycle innovation
- Program and business management:
- Customer care and marketing:
- Facilitation of FirstNet’s compliance with the act and other laws
Timeline
Interested parties may submit questions seeking clarification no later than February 12, 2016. FirstNet will hold an in-person, pre-proposal conference on March 10, 2016, which requires registration. Parties submitting proposals must file a capability statement by March 17, 2016. Those parties interested in subcontracting and teaming opportunities with other potential Offerors who would like their contact information on a FirstNet compiled list must submit their business name, size, email and phone number no later than March 17, 2016.
Proposals are due no later than April 29, 2016.
If you are interested in learning more about FirstNet, please contact Jennifer Holtz at [email protected] or any member of the Communications Practice Group.
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