FirstNet faces pushback from some states as deadline looms

The House Communications Subcommittee said it will hold a hearing next week to discuss states’ perspectives regarding FirstNet amid increasing pushback against the dedicated network for first responders. FirstNet has secured agreements from 27 of the 56 SPOCs—state single points of contact—it is targeting. Governors in 53 of those states and territories received initial state plans in June and must make final—and legally binding—decisions whether to use FirstNet by Dec. 28.

No state has yet opted out of FirstNet, although approximately 18 issued requests for proposals from potential competitors. Securing the FirstNet contract was viewed as a major win for AT&T, which will get access to 20 MHz of 700 MHz low-band spectrum and $6.5 billion for designing and operating the nationwide network for federal, state and local authorities, with the right to sell excess capacity on the system. AT&T will spend roughly $40 billion over the life of the 25-year contract to deploy and maintain the network, the Department of Commerce said, integrating its network assets with FirstNet.