By Sue Swenson, FirstNet Board Chairwoman
Last week I had the privilege of attending and participating in a town hall meeting in Humboldt County, California, that focused on the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN). I would like to thank the state’s single point of contact (SPOC), Karen Wong, and her staff for organizing the event. The purpose of the meeting was to share FirstNet’s plans for this dedicated network with the public safety community and communicate the importance of their feedback and involvement in the planning for the NPSBN, particularly since that part of the state is very rural and has many challenges related to communications.
During my presentation, I provided an update on FirstNet and fielded a number of good questions from the audience about what the network will be able to deliver to the public safety community. While I think I did a rather effective job in explaining our mission and the potential benefits of the network, I got an assist from Mother Nature. Allow me to explain.
About halfway through my presentation, at 1:08 p.m. Pacific Time, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Northern California. Everyone in the room felt the jolt. Now, being a California resident myself, I’ve been through my fair share of earthquakes. I have found that you are never truly ready for one to happen and you never know how significant one will be when it first begins. Fortunately, nobody in the building was hurt and we were able to continue with the Town Hall after participants checked in with their families, their work, or other key contacts.
However, not everyone was able to get a signal on their mobile devices. As is often the case in situations like this, the local telecom networks had become congested from the large number of calls being placed during and immediately after the earthquake hit. Several town hall participants were not able to complete a call for several minutes after it struck.
The earthquake served as a vivid demonstration of why there needs to be a broadband communications network dedicated to public safety. Although many first responders are using wireless carriers’ services today for their broadband data and video needs, the FirstNet network will aim to be “ruggedized,” with coverage in both urban and rural areas, and with databases, devices, and applications that meet specific public safety needs. All of this will differentiate the network from the broadband services available today and significantly improve the ability of public safety agencies across the country to communicate and share information that will better protect them and the people they serve.
In the meantime, conducting nationwide outreach to the public safety community has been and will continue to be one of FirstNet’s top priorities. Meetings like the one in Humboldt County are happening across the country. They are critical to ensuring that FirstNet is hearing directly from public safety about their communications needs and the unique considerations in their communities. This feedback will be valuable in our efforts to develop plans for building the network in each state and territory.
Thanks again to Karen and her team for inviting FirstNet to participate in the Town Hall. We look forward to continuing to work with the Golden State to plan for and deploy the network.
-Sue
