Time Ticking for States to Opt In or Out of FirstNet

Within the next year or two, governors will need to decide if they want to join the federal government’s new nationwide public safety communications network. And although the decision may seem far away, now is the time to prepare.

The First Responder Network Authority -- the independent federal entity better known as FirstNet -- is in the process of drawing up specific network designs for each state. Right now, a federal grant program is paying states to tally potential users and inventory radio towers and other gear that could be used by the network. Once those network plans hit governors’ desks, the clock starts ticking. Under federal legislation signed in 2012, states have 90 days to opt into or out of the plan. The goal of the new broadband network is to finally put the nation’s emergency responders on a common communications platform, eliminating potentially deadly situations where police or fire agencies from different jurisdictions can’t talk to each other during major disasters. But to deliver on those promises, FirstNet needs to offer a national service that’s better than existing networks used by state and local agencies. That won’t be easy. And if states don’t like what they see? Rejecting the plan presents its own set of challenges.

Opting out of FirstNet doesn’t mean the network won’t come to your state; it just means the feds won’t build it for you. Instead, you’ll build your own network -- following standards that allow it to plug into the national network -- and pick up at least 20 percent of the cost. States opting out will have just 180 days to get their own network plans approved by the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and then release a request for proposals for the project. Furthermore, governors may not be able to make the opt-out decision alone, says Bill Schrier, who, as a senior policy adviser to the Washington state CIO, serves as point man for the FirstNet deployment there. “Let’s suppose that it costs $100 million to build the network in Washington state,” Schier says. “If the governor opts out, he needs to cough up at least $20 million. That typically would require legislative authorization.”