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California Opts In to FirstNet

California will join a national wireless broadband network dedicated to first responders, a decision issued Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown despite reservations about interoperability, security and performance during emergencies.

California will join a national wireless broadband network dedicated to first responders, a decision issued Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown despite reservations about interoperability, security and performance during emergencies.

The decision came down to the wire. Brown, who waited until the Dec. 28 deadline, said California chose to participate in the national network even though the plan developed by the independent First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T “does not address all our state’s needs.”

“California is opting into the plan with the expectation that our concerns will be addressed throughout our partnership,” Brown wrote in a letter to Mike Poth, chief executive officer of FirstNet.

The FirstNet network is intended to provide a nationwide, interoperable broadband network — one that that will transform the way fire, police, EMS, emergency management and other public safety personnel communicate and share information, which has been a long-held goal of first responders since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The authority this spring selected AT&T to deploy that nationwide network, and states had until Thursday to decide whether to participate in the FirstNet network or build their own. Governors of all 50 states opted to join the national network, including last-minute holdouts California, Florida and New Hampshire. Also opting in, according to Techwire's sister publication Government Technology, were the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, both of which are still working to restore infrastructure battered by hurricanes this fall. Decisions from the territories of American Samoa, Guam and Northern Marianas Islands are not due until March 12, 2018, AT&T said in a news release.

In California, the outcome hadn’t been certain.

California had taken initial steps to potentially build its own network and had solicited bids from the private sector for a California-only network. But in the end, the regulatory and procedural processes set by FirstNet simply made that approach “untenable,” Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the California Office of Emergency Services (OES), wrote in an accompanying letter Thursday to the FirstNet head.

If California had tried to build its own network, it would have required the state to gain approvals from federal agencies that had the discretion “to reject California’s plan and force the state to revert to the FirstNet option,” Ghilarducci wrote.

And California would have been required to enter into a spectrum manager lease agreement with FirstNet, one that could have burdened California with undefined financial liability and made it “impossible for the state to accept and unpalatable to potential vendors,” Ghilarducci added.

Verizon didn’t even submit a bid, for example, because of the requirements set by FirstNet.

Among California’s concerns are how a national network will provide secure coverage across a geographically diverse state, as well as ensure coverage for critical infrastructure during emergencies. October’s wildfires, for example, burned more than 200,000 acres and destroyed or took offline more than 340 cellular sites, according to OES.

“California needs a mission-critical data network that is reliable, interoperable with other carriers’ networks, redundant and resilient,” Ghilarducci wrote.

Both FirstNet and AT&T have pledged to work with California. In a statement released Thursday, FirstNet’s Poth said Brown’s decision will put “reliable communications and cutting-edge technology in the hands of California's first responders.”

Specifically, FirstNet officials say, the national network will efficiently connect first responders to critical information; enhance network coverage in urban, coastal and rural areas, as well as tribal lands; and provide a wave of dependable innovations for first responders, such as public safety apps and specialized devices.

The 2017 wildfires show how California’s first responders tackle significant challenges, said Ken McNeely, president for AT&T's Pacific Region.

“California has asked for and deserves a communications network to help first responders save lives,” McNeely said. “We will continue to work with Gov. Brown and OES to address the state's needs.”