FirstNet

“NTIA thanks the Board for conducting this review expeditiously.  NTIA is pleased that today’s resolution charts a path to allow the resumption of these projects in accordance with the two conditions set out when we partially suspended the projects last year: 

• The grant money will remain in the communities that received the grant.

• The grant dollars will be spent on facilities and equipment that can be incorporated into FirstNet’s nationwide network , or that will yield valuable data and information to guide FirstNet.”

“The FirstNet Board has been hard at work now for five months, laying the groundwork for what will be one of the largest telecommunications networks ever built.  We understand the enormity of our task at hand, and the urgency to get it done as expeditiously as possible.  But we want to get it right.

“The FirstNet Board has taken a big step forward with the BTOP public safety projects.  Using the information we obtained from our site visits and other work with the projects’ leaders and vendors, we have determined that each of these seven grantees could provide substantial benefits to FirstNet’s nationwide deployment efforts and generate valuable lessons learned on the challenges we face.