By Jeremy Zollo, FirstNet Deputy Director of State Consultation

Idaho leads the nation in per capita use and adoption of cell phone technologies – this is one of the first items we learned during our initial consultation in Boise earlier this year.  There were many “firsts” during the Idaho consultation, including the first time the FirstNet and state teams took a group picture in a hockey rink (Idaho Steelheads’ CenturyLink Arena).

Stakeholders were present from all regions across the state for Idaho’s Initial Consultation Meeting.  Among the group included two members from the Governor’s Office, rural telecom representatives, and a Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) representative – Richard Broncheau of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Nez Perce Tribe.  The strong turnout of more than 100 attendees made for very engaging and productive discussions throughout the day.

General Brad Richy, the Idaho Single Point of Contact (SPOC), helped set the stage for the day by sharing his experiences of traveling around the state and seeing the high level of interest in FirstNet.  He discussed the future-oriented thinking taking place that will enable FirstNet to address some of the public safety communications challenges they have faced, and will continue to face, as the network is established.

FirstNet Vice Chair Jeff Johnson specifically addressed the state consultation process and how it is an exchange between Idaho and its stakeholders, and an important opportunity for FirstNet to better understand the needs of the state.  The FirstNet Board’s Vice Chair stressed that consultation does not end after the initial consultation meeting and will continue even after the network is deployed. 

Rob Feeley, the Program Manager for the Idaho State and Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP), provided an overview of Idaho’s activities that have kick-started the formal consultation activities.  Hearing about the state’s SLIGP initiatives helped FirstNet gain a better understanding of the rural challenges that impact public safety communications in Idaho.  Using satellite maps, Rob discussed all facets of the state’s geography and how FirstNet may provide opportunities to improve not only public safety communications, but also broadband infrastructure in more rural areas of the state, particularly along Highways 95 and 12. 

Among the key learnings from the meeting, Bonneville County has Next Generation 9-1-1 capabilities with Text-to-9-1-1 now in use.  The county is also testing an application that will help detect shootings in schools and automatically notify commanders with video and location information.  Also, the Nez Perce tribe has built out tremendous fiber infrastructure that it suggested might be a good source for FirstNet deployment options.  Paul Roberts, a division chief with the Boise Fire Department, led an engaging discussion on the use of broadband technology in the workplace.  He championed the use of applications and reminded everyone of how important it is for public safety to have dedicated spectrum through the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN). 

Brian Hobson and Steve Noel’s presentations on FirstNet updates and data collection activities provided important background for discussion.  The rural and rugged terrain in Idaho represents challenges for the state, but with the adoption rate of technology in Idaho, the nearby Idaho National Laboratories, and FirstNet working on rural solutions for the network, it was clear that there is a lot of activity to find solutions to meet mission needs.

Many thanks to General Richy and Rob Feeley for the outstanding job the Idaho team did in preparing for our consultation discussion.  The FirstNet team learned a lot from the use case scenarios presented by Idaho, the questions and discussions throughout the day, and the suggestions for how we can start planning for next steps for the NPSBN. 

Thanks,
Jeremy