Emergency Communications

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will be visiting Puerto Rico on Nov 5 and Nov 6. He plans to meet with government and industry officials to assess the status of recovery efforts and consult on next steps that the FCC should take to assist in the restoration of communications networks.

The House Communications Subcommittee held a hearing checking in on the progress made in the deployment of FirstNet, the first nationwide, interoperable broadband public safety network. Chairman Blackburn kicked things off by highlighting the importance of FirstNet to help first responders and make communities safer, “A lot of work at this committee went into reviewing the recommendations from the 9/11 commission on how to better prepare our first responders in times of crisis.

The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously approved emergency assistance to restore connectivity in schools and libraries affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria through the agency’s E-rate program.

As roughly half of US states consider a FirstNet opt out or opt in decision, considerable confusion has arisen about states’ options – confusion resulting, some say, from pressure tactics applied by FirstNet, the government entity created to administer the nationwide mobile broadband public safety network that carries the same name.

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.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement on his proposal to help schools and libraries affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria restore connectivity through the FCC’s E-rate program:

“[Oct 24], I shared with my colleagues an emergency order that would help schools and libraries recover from the devastation of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. This order would provide targeted financial support to these institutions through the FCC’s E-rate program and give them maximum flexibility as they try to restore connectivity. It would also make available additional funds to schools that are serving a substantial number of students displaced by this season’s hurricanes. Once my fellow commissioners have had the opportunity to review this proposed order, I hope they will be able to quickly vote to support this relief.”

FirstNet, the broadband first-responder network, has made it clear that its connection with tribal governments in Indian Country will be a direct one. In a new tribal consultation policy, FirstNet said it will be honoring tribal sovereignty and encouraged those nations to talk directly with FirstNet, rather than having to go with the representatives designated by state governors, once a state governor has made their decision about participation. Governors in all 50 states got their respective state plans from NirstNet in September, and have until Dec. 28 to opt in or out of the plan.So far 27 states have opted in.

Those who opt for different network approach--Verizon, for example, is pitching an alternative, must make sure they are interoperable with First Net. But Tribal Nations can make their own designations independent of states. FirstNet will engage with the tribes up until a governor's decision, but after that will deal directly with the tribes, whatever that decision, including to make sure their coverage needs and concerns are being met. The tribes are being treated like federal entities, which can also make their own FirstNet decisions independent of state participation.

I’m sure that those that love to regulate will try to make the weak case that the status of the wireless industry occurred because of — and not despite — the Federal Communications Commission’s regulations, particularly our Net Neutrality burdens. Beyond being desperate to validate their myopic decision, this argument completely ignores the counterfactual, or what would have occurred absent such burdens. The reality is that had the Commission rejected the liberal mantra of Net Neutrality, the entire wireless picture could have been even better.

In the wake of the devastating and deadly California wildfires, Sens Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) have written the Federal Communications Commission with their concerns that wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) lack potentially lifesaving precise geotargeting, and are urging the FCC to implement that requirement ASAP.

The FCC in 2016 proposed rules, which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai voted for as a commissioner, that would require wireless carriers to provide precise geotargeting of WEA warnings, but Sens Feinstein and Harris wrote Pai that they were disappointed the FCC has never voted a final order, and that it provided "a temporary waiver of the existing, imprecise geotargeting requirements for certain carriers." They ask if the chairman intends to proceed with the rulemaking and if so, will he do it expeditiously, and if not, why not. They also want to know whether the FCC has gotten feedback from emergency services in Northern California about whether the WEA system is meeting their needs, referring to news stories that suggested it was not, and whether it has sought the same info from hurricane-it areas.

New Hampshire is considering becoming the first state to opt out of FirstNet. AT&T earlier in 2017 won the right to build the nation’s first network dedicated to first responders. States have a legal right to opt out of FirstNet’s service, but if they choose another service provider, the network must be interoperable with FirstNet’s offering.

Twenty-seven states and territories have verbally committed to using the network, and final decisions—which will be legally binding—must be made by Dec. 28. But roughly a dozen have issued requests for proposals from potential competitors such as Verizon, Rivada Networks and Southern Linc. And Gov Chris Sununu (R-NH) signed an executive order establishing an “Opt-Out Review Committee” that will consider the regulatory and financial risks should the state choose not to participate.