Page 12 - FCW, August 2019

FirstNet is well-known for its use in state and local public safety, particularly for law enforcement, fire and medical personnel. How is the application different for federal agencies—or how is it not-so-different?
CHRIS ALGIERE From a public safety perspective, the biggest difference is the jurisdiction. What you’re looking at in the federal jurisdictional space is much larger—a federal law enforcement organization has to plan and communicate nationally, as opposed to a state or local department that operates in a much more compact area, relatively speaking.
ROB PATTERSON In the federal space, you’re talking coast to coast and border to border, which is a massive undertaking that comes with huge overhead costs. It’s not just the physical equipment but the ongoing maintenance; it’s the infrastructure that makes the communications work.
The ability to securely and reliably access and move data via mobile devices has become increasingly critical over the last decade. Most of us have left the office and are working outside that space. And it’s key for federal agencies to think about their secure communications on an everyday basis, not just in a crisis.
Many federal agencies already have emergency plans and systems in place. The recommendation is that they adopt FirstNet for their communications. What is the benefit of making the change to FirstNet?
CHRIS FirstNet is the nation’s only high-speed, broadband network designed specifically for
public safety. This means it can truly transform communications and operations. The network has exclusive access to spectrum, along with priority and preemption to give eligible users priority access to the network—other services don’t offer this.
It has an encrypted core not seen in commercial networks today. And most importantly it streamlines interoperability by providing a common platform for federal, state, local and tribal users. FirstNet stands to change the game not only for emergency response, but also everyday functions throughout the federal sector in support of public safety, enabling more effective and agile operations.
Which federal agencies, beyond those primarily leading national law enforcement, homeland security and emergency response, might benefit from FirstNet?
ROB FirstNet can enable the mission of
agencies that provide supporting functions to
law enforcement or emergency response. If you consider how we are moving away from purely voice communications over land mobile radio to communicating rich data, the number of agencies that FirstNet can support widens dramatically. The data that’s supplementing, impacting or assisting public safety operations can come from any number of federal agencies. And having those agencies as part of the FirstNet community is highly valuable.
CHRIS ALGIERE
First Responder Network Authority