Colorado backflips on FirstNet fears

Only one week after submitting documents to the FCC outlining its concerns about FirstNet, Colorado has submitted a further letter rescinding the first submission.

In a 6 July submission (PDF), the Colorado Public Safety Broadband Governing Body (CPSBGB) outlined its worries regarding interoperability issues with FirstNet — namely that the implementation of PTT and MCPTT in the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) network would likely lead to interoperability issues within the state.

This conclusion was based on a commissioned report which found:

• Given the current market share distribution between the two largest cellular carriers within Colorado (Verizon ~65%, AT&T ~15%) and coupled with the local control nature of the state we believe it is unlikely that a single network will serve the majority of public safety users.
• As a consequence, LTE-based communications will continue to operate over multiple commercial entities offering public safety based services.
• While increased competition for advanced public safety services is likely to benefit first responders through enhanced features and lower pricing, it is likely to simultaneously undermine the primary tenet of the NPSBN effort — interoperability.
   

The 6 July submission said, “Recent statements by AT&T and FirstNet indicate that there is presently no intention to establish standards or agreements with other commercial carriers to ensure prioritised interoperability for critical public safety applications and access. We fear that without standards or agreements to ensure prioritized interoperability, first responders will continue to experience issues related to interoperability that will effectively leave the status quo unresolved.”

However, in a 13 July letter (PDF) to the FCC, the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), Broadband Office said that it “acknowledges the interoperability concerns raised by the CPSBGB in this filing. However, on behalf of the CPSBGB, we request that the Commission not take any further action on this matter at this time.

“Consistent with Colorado’s decision to Opt-In to the NPSBN on December 18, 2017, the Broadband Office will work collaboratively with the CPSBGB and FirstNet to resolve the concerns raised regarding interoperability and ensure the Colorado first responder community has access to a state of the art communications system,” the 13 July submission continued.

“We remain committed to support the mission set forth by FirstNet to deploy, operate, maintain, and improve the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety.”

Image courtesy FirstNet.

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