Ex-House Commerce Chairmen Urge Congress to Reconsider Keeping AT&T at FirstNet Helm
Current lobbyists and former House Commerce Committee chairmen Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Wednesday that lawmakers “must again ask tough questions [about] whether FirstNet is fully achieving the goals we put into law in 2012” as Congress eyes reauthorizing it before the existing mandate expires in February 2027. The House Communications Subcommittee examined FirstNet and other public safety communications matters during a hearing earlier this month (see 2509090062).
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“Today there is a broad perception that FirstNet is a separate physical network owned by the federal government and therefore the American people, [but in reality, it’s] owned and controlled by AT&T,” wrote Walden and Waxman, who now represent carrier rivals Verizon and T-Mobile, respectively. An initial version of their post for RealClearPolicy didn’t indicate the former lawmakers’ current roles as lobbyists for the companies, but the disclosure later appeared in an update.
“You must be an AT&T customer to have access” to FirstNet, Walden and Waxman said. “Notably, other major providers are providing services similar to AT&T’s FirstNet-branded service, including priority and preemption capabilities but without the multi-billion-dollar federal subsidies. Now is the time to examine the FirstNet arrangement and determine what updates should be made.” Witnesses at the House Communications hearing “testified about significant competition for public safety services by all three national wireless carriers, and the critical importance of preserving alternatives in a changing public safety communications environment,” the ex-lawmakers said. “And members expressed concerns about over-reliance on a single network when disasters strike.”
Walden and Waxman said the Commerce Department's Office of Inspector General has repeatedly reported on “missed deployment deadlines, deficient oversight, and serious network failures. What’s more -- a recent investigation revealed that FirstNet leadership threatened and retaliated against staff who responded to oversight questions from the IG. The record shows a pattern begging for Congress to dig in to ensure these improprieties stop.” The ex-lawmakers wondered whether “funds that currently direct through FirstNet to AT&T [could] be dedicated to other major public safety communications needs,” including next-generation 911 tech upgrades (see 2509080055).