By Jeff Johnson, FirstNet Board member

Last week, members of the FirstNet team and I had the opportunity to participate in a workshop focused on a key set of partners in the development of the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN): the five U.S. territories and two non-contiguous states. Organized by Air Force Major General and Hawaii Adjutant General Darryll Wong, who is the state’s Single Point of Contact for FirstNet, the Hawaii Broadband Collaboration workshop brought together a cross-section of almost 100 local, state, and territorial public safety officials from Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

Titled “Bodies of Water/Bodies of Land: the NPSBN Challenge,” the two-day workshop focused on the unique needs that FirstNet and the non-contiguous states and territories must consider for planning for and deploying the network. In addition, the two-way exchange of information between FirstNet and attendees also helped educate us about their communications challenges so that we can better prepare them for the FirstNet consultation process and, ultimately, the development of state and territorial plans for building the network.

During my presentation on the first day of the workshop, I provided an overview of FirstNet’s progress to date and covered key issues of interest to attendees, such as the cost of the network, including how FirstNet intends to offer public safety grade services at a price that is compelling to users. I also talked about how the network will not replace land mobile radio (LMR) upon deployment and how the NPSBN will differ from a commercial communications network in many ways that will benefit public safety users.

In addition to explaining our approach on those and other important issues, I emphasized how the workshop was an opportunity for FirstNet to learn more about the unique public safety communications requirements in the two states and five territories. This includes gaining a better understanding of how their remote – and in some places isolated – locations present unique accessibility, geographic, and coverage issues that must be factored into the design and ongoing operations of the network. I concluded by talking about where we are in the process and encouraging them to participate in all phases of the project, such as consultation, planning and design, implementation and build out, and maintenance and operation of the network.

Following my presentation Rich Reed, FirstNet Director of State Plans, provided a detailed review of the state/territory consultation process with FirstNet and the major milestones associated with it. Rich gave an excellent presentation that helped improve their understanding of the objectives and expectations for consultation, which is the most pressing phase of development for all 56 states and territories.

The feedback we received during a question and answer session later in the day helped set an open, honest, and collaborative tone for the rest of the workshop, which included presentations from all seven non-contiguous states and territories about the major threats that they face – both natural and manmade – as well as their current uses of communications and mobile data, the potential benefits of deploying FirstNet, and their top challenges facing FirstNet build-out.

FirstNet team members also participated in a series of break-out sessions on key considerations for this stage of planning for the network, including government relations and public policy (Ed Parkinson – Director of Governmental Affairs); outreach and education (Kristi Wilde – Outreach coordinator); technological issues (Brian Hobson – State Plans, Technical Lead); and operations (Rich Reed). They were joined by representatives from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Emergency Communications (OEC), who provided great presentations about their broadband coverage workshops and other OEC activities that are supporting FirstNet.

I would like to thank General Wong for providing FirstNet with ample opportunities to interface with representatives from the territories, Hawaii, and Alaska on such critical issues during our time here. I would also like to thank Victoria Garcia, Hawaii’s Statewide Interoperability Coordinator, for organizing the workshop and for all of the territories for attending it.

This was an important next step in FirstNet’s ongoing conversation with the territories, Alaska, and Hawaii about keeping the momentum going on public safety broadband planning for the NPSBN. The islands have a strong voice and it was an honor to be invited to listen, ask questions, and learn more together. The relationships that we established or continued to build over the past two days will be make a difference as we move forward.

Mahalo,
-Jeff