State Officials Worry About FirstNet Delay

Court of Federal Claims (see 1612140053) resolves a Rivada Mercury protest. In an International Wireless Communications Expo webinar Thursday, state officials from Alabama, Washington and Illinois said an extended delay would be problematic for funding and other reasons. “I’m concerned about funding,” said Washington state single point of contact Shelley Westall. Washington is looking at contingency planning for an extended delay, she said. The state’s public safety network is funded completely by NTIA's State and Local Government Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP), and plans to use all the money it received, she said. “Delay is going to be very problematic for us. I am concerned about our governor’s opportunity to have staff available to fully brief him on his decision to opt in or opt out when he is presented with the plan.” The funding question also worries Illinois Statewide Interoperability Coordinator Joe Galvin, he said. The Illinois program also is funded by SLIGP, but also has other grants on which to fall back, Galvin said. “If SLIGP 2.0 becomes a reality, certainly that will help.” Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Executive Director Ryan Burchnell said a delay will be negative to public safety. “It worries me that public safety is going to start to turn away from the project itself and that we’re going to lose that great momentum that we’ve had in the last few months,” he said. Galvin agreed: “The stalling of the program would be very problematic because of all the energies we’ve built behind this thing.”