Former FirstNet Board Chairs Object to Much of Hudson's 'Alarming' Reauthorization Draft

Carrizzo and Swenson said in a letter to acting FirstNet board Vice Chairman Michael Adkinson and other board members that they’re aware of an “alarming draft [FirstNet proposal that] if enacted would mire public safety in a malaise of political red tape, inflate costs that jeopardize the fiscal efficiency of [the public safety network] and compromise U.S. resiliency against national disasters and cyberattacks.” Adkinson, who's “performing the duties” of acting FirstNet board chair, is among the witnesses set to testify at the Senate Communications hearing Tuesday.

Lobbyists told us the FirstNet board ex-chairs were referring to Hudson’s proposal and appeared to be objecting based on descriptions of the draft. Other stakeholders have also not seen the full draft language, but Hudson’s office has described elements of the proposal to them or provided snippets of the text, lobbyists told us. Hudson’s office and House Commerce didn’t immediately comment.

Hudson's draft proposes a 10-year reauthorization of FirstNet’s mandate and includes language requiring designated board positions for the public safety community, which are among a few “positive elements [but] it also introduces several provisions that raise substantial concerns regarding FirstNet’s independence, mission focus, and long-term effectiveness in serving the nation’s Public Safety community,” Carrizzo and Swenson said. They objected to language eliminating FirstNet’s “independent status” by placing it within NTIA and creating a new agency associate administrator to oversee the network.

Lobbyists said those provisions appear similar to language in the Public Safety Communications Act (HR-1519), which would create an Office of Public Safety Communications within NTIA to administer proposed next-generation 911 funding and provide FirstNet oversight (see 2601150048). The Fraternal Order of Police and Public Safety Broadband Technology Association opposed HR-1519 because they believe it would undermine the FirstNet board’s authority (see 2512160073). House Communications unanimously advanced that measure last week (see 2601150048).

'Ruthless Preemption'

Hudson’s draft also “broadens the definition” of FirstNet “to include services beyond the core network and Radio Access Network (RAN), such as Motorola PTT, NG911, application providers, and funding for integration of other commercial carriers,” Carrizzo and Swenson said. “This will allow for ‘open door’ spending for non-network items, eroding resources dedicated to public safety.” It also redefines FirstNet’s interoperability requirements “to include Quality of Service (QoS), Priority, and Preemption across commercial carriers and the ‘public safety network.’”

“FirstNet’s ‘ruthless preemption’ would be diluted, risking the interoperability failures exposed by the 9/11 Commission,” the ex-chairs said. Lobbyists said the proposed interoperability and FirstNet definition changes wouldn’t threaten AT&T’s contract to operate the network but would provide openings for rival carriers Verizon and T-Mobile to access its infrastructure. Current lobbyists and former House Commerce Committee Chairmen Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif., questioned in September whether Congress should reconsider leaving AT&T as FirstNet’s lone manager. They respectively represent Verizon and T-Mobile (see 2509250060). An AT&T spokesperson emphasized in an email Wednesday that FirstNet is a “public private partnership.”

Carrizzo and Swenson expressed concern about a range of other provisions in Hudson’s draft as well, including requirements for increased reporting to Congress, which they describe as “political micromanagement,” and mandated NTIA disclosure of FirstNet contracts to the Hill upon request of House and Senate Commerce leaders. A proposal to require FirstNet to create “a business continuity and disaster plan” is another example of “unnecessary and inefficient distractions [given] FirstNet’s robust business continuity and disaster recovery measures as part of its contractual obligations,” the ex-chairs said.

Carrizzo and Swenson urged Adkinson, other FirstNet board members and their advocates to “immediately contact” House and Senate Commerce members to raise concerns about the Hudson draft. “We know that certain folks on Capitol Hill have recently been less than honest with Public Safety, and even deceptive in their recent interactions,” the ex-chairs said. “This matter has become extremely urgent.”

Lobbyists said they expect additional volleys from FirstNet stakeholders ahead of Tuesday's Senate Communications hearing. As expected, panel witnesses will also include Scott Agnew, AT&T's president of FirstNet and public safety mobility, and Cory Davis, vice president of Verizon’s Frontline, its alternative public safety network. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.

House Commerce unanimously advanced all three public safety communications bills on its Wednesday docket after hours of contentious debate about a set of energy and Clean Air Act permitting revamp measures. The panel voted 46-0 for Lulu’s Law (HR-2076), 45-0 on the Emergency Reporting Act (HR-5200) and 46-0 on the Kari’s Law Reporting Act (HR-5201).