By Kristi Wilde, FirstNet Outreach Coordinator

The FirstNet User Advocacy Team recently held the third quarterly webinar of 2015 for the FirstNet state and territory Single Points of Contact (SPOCs). The session was well-attended with more than 80 individuals representing 41 states and territories dialing in.

The webinar focused on three areas: our work together on strategic roadmap milestones, including an update on the Special Notice and draft RFP documents released April 27; information on the responses to the Second and Third Public Notices; and our consultation process, including planning for round two of our state and territory consultation meetings. The webinar concluded with a reminder of the data collection process underway by the states and its importance to inform FirstNet in its acquisition of a comprehensive network solution(s) and the development of state plans. The data collection submissions are due to FirstNet on September 30, 2015.

TJ Kennedy, Acting Executive Director, began with a general FirstNet update of this past quarter’s activities. He noted that FirstNet received more than 660 questions regarding the Special Notice and draft RFP documents, an indication of the close attention being paid to it by stakeholders. FirstNet completed responses to all of the questions and published them on the Federal Business Opportunities website. TJ emphasized that FirstNet’s top priorities continue to be developing the RFP (acquisition) and consultation.

TJ and Dave Buchanan, Director of State Consultation, reported that to date, FirstNet had completed initial consultations with 38 states, including one in North Dakota on the same day as the webinar. Fifteen more consultations have been scheduled; it is FirstNet’s intention that all will be complete by the end of October.

Kevin Green, FirstNet Attorney Advisor, summarized the responses to the Second Public Notice. He reported that FirstNet’s preliminary interpretations on such subjects as network policies, requirements for states choosing to take responsibility for building the RAN, revenue reinvestment, and others largely received support from respondents. States and the vendor community made up the majority of those who submitted comments. Kevin also provided some basic information on the responses to the Third Public Notice, a follow-up to the First Public Notice definition of eligible public safety users.

Finally, Jeremy Zollo from the User Advocacy team spoke about the current data collection request. Jeremy shared that the User Advocacy team is now planning for the second round of consultation meetings expected to take place beginning in 2016. During those meetings, FirstNet will be diving deeper into detail with the states and territories, verifying the user and coverage data, and identifying any gaps. FirstNet also plans to address additional topics such as priority and preemption, security, and training according to each state and territory’s needs.

To help the data collection process, Jeremy indicated FirstNet is scheduling individual state calls during the month of July. These will be handled by the four current regional leads and five additional User Advocacy staff covering the other regions while the hiring process continues. In August, FirstNet is planning another webinar for states and territories to feature best practices and lessons learned about the data collection effort. He noted some key dates for the SPOCs, including:

• July: Individual state calls regarding data collection
• August: SPOC webinar featuring data collection methodology examples
• September: FirstNet Board meeting in Reston, VA
• September 30: Data collection due to FirstNet
• October 6-8: In-Person SPOC Meeting (tentative)
• October 31: Expected conclusion of initial round of state consultation meetings
• September through December: Monthly regional calls
• December 8-9: FirstNet Board meeting in Houston, TX
• December 31: Target for release of RFP

During the webinar, state and territory representatives asked questions about source selection, a template for state plans, our business model, the governors’ decision making process, network governance, and local control.

I want to thank everyone who was able to join in on the webinar. We always look forward to bringing state and territory representatives together with our senior managers so that we can share information and answer questions directly. We’re looking for additional ways to support states and territories through the next few months of data collection. As always, reach out and let us know when you have ideas or questions. We must work together to execute this incredible mission for public safety throughout the nation.

Thanks,
Kristi