Page 14 - FCW, August 2019

to-talk capabilities, which take the security and familiarity of radio, and moves them to smart phones. This gives users the ability to seamlessly use push-to-talk in ways that augment the land mobile radio network.
What about network interoperability? Why is FirstNet a one-carrier network?
CHRIS First and foremost, it’s a security issue. From a cybersecurity and information assurance standpoint, the attack surface of FirstNet is huge. The legislation that created FirstNet called for single public safety network. Any seam in the network presents potential challenges, and that was something that was considered early on, before AT&T was brought on board. That was a very specific and intentional move by the FirstNet Authority.
On interoperability, if you’re on a different network, you can still contact someone who’s a FirstNet subscriber. However, in times of crisis, a non-FirstNet caller will likely face congestion on their provider’s network, but a subscriber on the FirstNet network should not have that issue.
How would an agency acquire FirstNet?
CHRIS First, an agency should confirm their eligibility. Users are either primary or extended primary. Primary users are first responders like law enforcement, fire and EMS and extended primary users are personnel who may support activities
of a first responder. As we discussed this could be physically supporting them or managing critical data. Eligibility can be confirmed by working with your AT&T account representative.
ROB From a procurement standpoint, FirstNet is on a number of contract vehicles, including GSA Schedule 70, Department of Justice BPA, NAVSUP Spiral 3 and NETCOM Army Air Force BPA. Also AT&T client executives and FirstNet consultants can assist agencies with procurement vehicles.
Looking toward the future, how do you see FirstNet evolving?
CHRIS The FirstNet Authority is looking at how to reinvest in the network, as the statute requires, and that informs our roadmap. How can we advance FirstNet and innovative technologies to help
public safety? How do we trace that back to an operational need or a capability gap? By talking to different agencies and departments, we’re drawing out some of that information.
We’re conducting outreach and workshops with agencies to help us determine their needs and how we can help. We need public safety to tell us about their operational challenges—what are the things they struggle with? We take that information and see how we can enhance FirstNet and determine the technology’s trajectory to deliver that capability.
ROB The really important part federal agencies play now is to bring ideas forward. Anyone can always come in and say, “Can it do this?” And it may be something that wasn’t on our radar.
AT&T continues to build upon the platform to meet the objectives established by the FirstNet Authority. Technology is in constant development. Agencies can come to us as new needs arise
and we’ll try to find a solution, which we can incorporate into the platform. That’s what makes it really different from anything I’ve seen in the three decades I was in the public safety space.
We’re starting to see communities pulling together to understand each other’s unique needs and challenges. Cross-communication is an old challenge, but now we’re providing a solution that agencies and teams can use to solve those problems.
There are plenty of times when you have to take risks to get things done—but you shouldn’t if there’s a capability that can address the problem. We removed some of the communications challenges of the past and improved operational functionality to deliver a better experience. FirstNet is about having options, no matter what part of the government you’re in.
To determine if your agency is eligible for FirstNet or to participate in a workshop to learn how FirstNet can benefit your agency, contact your AT&T client executive or visit bit.ly/FederalFN
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