The U.S. Virgin Islands is leading the way to modernize communications for its public safety community. Today, Governor Kenneth Mapp announced his decision to accept the FirstNet and AT&T plan to deliver a wireless broadband network to the territory’s public safety community, helping first responders save lives and protect communities. This makes the U.S. Virgin Islands the first U.S. territory to “opt-in” to the FirstNet network. “The United States Virgin …
AT&T’s FirstNet chief mum on new tower builds, questions ‘public safety grade’ towers
A two-hour progress hearing on FirstNet yesterday by the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet provided scant details on AT&T’s plans for new tower builds throughout the country, especially in rural areas, other than a brief mention there was an aggressive program in place to accomplish it. Michael Poth, CEO of FirstNet and Chris Sambar, Senior Vice President, …
Virginia opts in for FirstNet followed by Wyoming’s okay for first responders network
Virginia was America’s first colony, and Virginia continued that leading tradition by becoming the first state to sign on to the national framework for FirstNet’s interoperable emergency communications network yesterday. “FirstNet will be able to put the technology citizens use every day — like smartphones and apps — into the hands of Virginia’s first responders, modernizing how they help save …
FirstNet and AT&T deliver state plans three months ahead of schedule
FirstNet and AT&T are taking an important step to deliver the first nationwide high-speed data and voice network for America’s first responders. Today, the two will provide U.S. states and territories with individual State Plans to enable the rapid deployment of this first-of-its-kind FirstNet network. The network buildout proposed in the State Plans will create thousands of new jobs nationwide …
AT&T’s disaster drill sets stage for providing connectivity during emergencies
Hurricane season officially kicks off on June 1, and the National Weather Service says an average of three hurricanes hit the U.S. coastline every two years. But each one carries with it different catastrophic results and AT&T says it wants to be prepared for all scenarios, and goes through a number of exercises that put their Network Discovery (NDR) team …
AT&T’s tower-centric drone software could sunset a number of head counts
More than 30 years ago, Art Pregler directed the Air Force’s complex mission of taking full sized multi-million-dollar fighter aircraft, converting them into drones, and then shooting them out of the sky with new advanced weapons systems. Today, as director of AT&T’s National Mobility Systems, Pregler’s role is just the opposite, requiring him to ensure that the carrier’s experimental drones remain …
NATE goes full bore into the beltway to address industry’s and nation’s priorities
Timed to coincide with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai’s declaration of April 2017 as “Infrastructure Month”, executives of the National Association of Tower Erectors were in Washington, D.C. last week for a series of legislative and regulatory meetings. During the productive week, the NATE delegation, consisting of Chairman Jim Tracy, Board of Directors member John Paul Jones, Executive …
AT&T exec Kay Kapoor will head new $15B global organization
Kay Kapoor, who has led AT&T’s federal business for four year, and the company’s successful efforts to secure the multi-billion-dollar FirstNet public safety network contract, will now head the company’s new Global Public Sector (GPS) business unit as its president. AT&T is consolidating its federal, state and local public sector operations into GPS. AT&T’s public sector sales in 2016, consisting …
Court agrees, awarding FirstNet contract to Rivada was just too ‘risky’
According to documents released by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, FirstNet’s Source Selection Authority (SSA) said one of the reasons that Rivada Mercury did not make the competitive range for bidding for the nationwide public safety network that was awarded to AT&T on Thursday was because “Rivada’s proposed strategy was risky because it utilized aggressive business assumptions.” The SSA …
Sorley to lead FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee
FirstNet said it was pleased to announce, after a thorough search by its Board Chair Sue Swenson, and Board Vice Chair Jeff Johnson, that Tom Sorley has been selected to serve as the new Chair of the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC). “We extend heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to Tom for serving FirstNet and the PSAC, and are excited about the …
FirstNet and AT&T contract is inked creating 10,000 new jobs, $40 billion in spending by the carrier
At an award and signing ceremony this morning at the Department of Commerce, AT&T, although unofficially acknowledged as the winning FirstNet bidder, was officially announced as the winner of the private/public safety network contract by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “Today is a landmark day for public safety across the Nation and shows the incredible progress we can make …
American Tower’s $100 million amendment is most likely from Verizon
UPDATE: March 29, 2017 – According to two knowledgeable industry insiders, American Tower Corporation’s (ATC) filing on March 21 stating that it had amended a master lease agreement with one of its tenants that will provide the company with an additional $100 million in revenue for the year, was an agreement with Verizon, not AT&T as had been widely speculated. However, they …
Expect a quick AT&T award of FirstNet after court rules against Rivada Mercury
The U.S. Court of Appeals of Federal Claims on Friday ruled against Rivada Mercury in the lawsuit they filed in November alleging that they were unfairly excluded by FirstNet from being in the competitive range for the nationwide broadband network for public safety contract Knowledgeable industry observers have said that if Rivada’s lawsuit was denied, the FirstNet board will most …
AT&T’s FirstNet award in the bag rumors ignore court’s near-term expected ruling
Rumors at last week’s Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona that FirstNet was set to award America’s first nationwide network for first responders to AT&T would require judicial clairvoyance to be accurate since the award is in an ongoing procurement process that will be decided by U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan. Oral arguments in Rivada Mercury’s lawsuit …
AT&T: Viva Mexico, President Trump, and FirstNet selecting them
Although the almost daily political question in America is Who will pay for the Mexican border wall?, AT&T knows who is paying to assist with its bottom line, Mexico. And it has been a “remarkable success story,” according to AT&T CFO John Stephens. In its quarterly conference call last week, Stephens accented the company’s strong growth in Mexico, stating, “In …
Rivada’s 4G bid rigging allegations overflow with plots expected in a Grisham novel
In November, Rivada Mercury, a consortium led by Rivada Networks, which includes Harris, Fujitsu, Black & Veatch, Nokia, Intel and Ericsson, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over what it says is the illegal and “wrongful exclusion” of the consortium from the First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet) procurement process. Rivada’s latest lawsuit involves a $7 billion contract to operate …
AT&T believes it’s a shoo-in for the multi-billion dollar FirstNet award
AT&T stretched the use of an 8K Securities and Exchange Commission filing as they shook their hips in the FirstNet win zone Friday, stating that it appears that they were the only compliant bidder – to their knowledge. According to AT&T, bidders pdvWireless Inc. and Rivada Mercury, LLC have both been eliminated from the RFP review. AT&T said that it …
Contract award delayed as FirstNet ‘gets this right’
FirstNet’s expected announcement today of who was selected to build out the nationwide first responder communications network has been put on hold, according to a recent blog post by FirstNetCEO Mike Poth who said the selection process was taking longer than expected and would extend beyond a Nov. 1 2016 target date. “From the outset, FirstNet set an aggressive schedule for …
FirstNet awards eight grants for public safety agencies relocating from Band 14 spectrum
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) announced the funding of eight awards for its Band 14 Incumbent Spectrum Relocation Grant Program (Band 14 Program). This program provides financial assistance to eligible public safety entities for relocating their existing radios and systems from Band 14 in advance of the deployment and operation of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN). It …
A bright future predicted for wireless work by leading industry experts at NATE UNITE 2016
As three leading industry experts gazed into their crystal balls Tuesday during their NATE UNITE 2016 presentation, “The Future of the Wireless Industry,” their consensus indicated a robust build program that could last for more than a decade. However, Clayton Funk of Media Venture Partners, Christopher Fisher, Cuddy & Feder LLP; and Robert Paige, Vertical Bridge, cautioned National Association of …
