By Amanda Hilliard, FirstNet Director of Outreach
As part of our outreach and consultation with the public safety community, FirstNet is holding webinars this week for federal, tribal, state, and local public safety representatives to ask questions and provide feedback on recent FirstNet developments. The topics of discussion include the Special Notice and Draft RFP documents, as well as the Third Public Notice (Third Notice) and state data collection efforts. We were pleased to have more than 75 stakeholders participate in first webinar Wednesday May 6, 2015. The next webinar will take place on Friday, May 8, 2015.
During Wednesday’s webinar, I discussed state data collection efforts around coverage, users and operational areas, capacity planning, and current providers and procurement. Based on feedback and recommendations we have received from our consultation with the states and territories, FirstNet has extended the deadline for states and territories to submit their initial data on those topics by two months, to September 30, 2015. I explained how FirstNet will work quickly to incorporate the states’ information into its final RFP in order to meet the target release date of December 31, 2015.
Additionally, Eli Veenendaal, Attorney-Advisor, reviewed FirstNet’s preliminary interpretations in the Third Notice around the definition of “public safety entity.” Eli encouraged participants to provide feedback on the Third Notice and noted that comments are due June 4, 2015. He also said FirstNet was in the process of reviewing the 69 responses it received on the Second Public Notice and was pleased with the quality of the responses to the Second Notice.
James Mitchell, Senior Program Manager for Operations, reviewed key sections of the Special Notice and Draft RFP documents, including the Statement of Objectives (SOO). He explained that the SOO was developed to drive competition and flexibility, which would result in the best network for public safety. He also highlighted future opportunities for public safety to provide input on the documents, including the May 14, 2015 Industry Day, and encouraged their participation. Key deadlines for the Special Notice include questions by May 27, 2015 and Comments and Capabilities Statements by July 27, 2015; additional details are available at fbo.gov.
In addition to the webinars, the User Advocacy Team held initial consultation meetings this week in Rhode Island and West Virginia. Thanks to all of our public safety partners for participating in these events.
-Amanda
