The First Responder Network (FirstNet) and Next-Generation Communications for Public Safety: Issues for Congress

摘要

Congress included provisions in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-96) for planning, building, and managing a new, nationwide, broadband network for public safety communications, by creating the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). The act allocated 10 MHz of additional radio frequency spectrum to accommodate the new network and required that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assign a license to FirstNet, comprising the newly designated frequencies and 10 MHz previously assigned to states by the FCC for public safety use. In addition, the act designated federal appropriations of over $7 billion for the network and other public safety needs. These funds are provided through new revenue from the auction of licenses to the commercial sector in other spectrum bands. The establishment of FirstNet is an important step toward reaching what has been a national goal since September 11, 2001: the provision of interoperable communications for first responders. The immediate goal for FirstNet is to provide a broadband network to carry data, although it will provide an option for voice communications as well. Mission critical voice communications, which require higher levels of quality of service, will, in most states, be available only over Land Mobile Radio (LMR) networks operating on narrowband frequencies that are under the jurisdiction of state and local public safety agencies. States will likely need to continue to invest in and maintain their narrowband networks and may at the same time be obliged to fund some part of the state build-out for FirstNet. The cost of constructing and maintaining a nationwide network is estimated by many experts to be in the tens of billions of dollars over the long term. The cost of acquiring core network elements needed to provide required functions nationwide is estimated at under $10 million; most of the cost for FirstNet is in deploying and maintaining towers and related infrastructure in states and communities. The law anticipates that some of these costs will be covered by partnerships that permit commercial access to FirstNet's spectrum. How much of the benefit of these partnerships will accrue to FirstNet and how much will be available to the states for state-owned and operated networks in their jurisdictions is unknown. Information available to the public indicates that FirstNet intends to discourage states from building and operating their own networks within FirstNet, in part by limiting the amount of spectrum available for this purpose. FirstNet has taken the position that state autonomy in network design decisions and management will jeopardize FirstNet's ability to provide a network that meets its coverage and service goals. In seeking economies of scale and cost savings for its own business model, however, FirstNet may be transferring costs and risks to states. In the long term, these costs may hinder state and local investment in services generally categorized as the Internet of Things. The governance model chosen by FirstNet is a federalized, centrally planned and directed network, bolstered by federal procurement practices that limit states to a consultative role. A risk in choosing this model is that states may consider the federal presence excessive and cease to cooperate with FirstNet, jeopardizing the purpose of the network.