Hats off to Sam Ginn who is stepping down from the FirstNet Board. It’s never easy to lead the inaugural board on such a grand endeavor. The path was never going to be easy given the balancing act that was required between so many players and the eagerness to get something done so fast.

As I spoke about in an earlier article: “FirstNet – Bill D’Agastino jumping ship? Carrier perception kills their plans?” —the course I predict is that FirstNet is making strides in the right direction by formulating a non-biased approach that will represent all the entities involved. The carriers still have a performance at the table — if FirstNet plays its cards right. The carriers will be better positioned, not just to support FirstNet, but for themselves as well. The balancing of act of user requirements, asset availability, and projected recurring revenue, can now be established to attract private industry into the fray. Plus, the defining role of the State Governor’s will benefit tremendously with the added advantage of monetizing the spectrum for their benefit in support of Public Safety and FirstNet. 

We must resist the brilliance of the technology; or our innate ability to build in a moments notice; we must focus on a solid business case that will balance the needs of all involved, without it, we are just wasting money on fancy technologies and large projects with no real long-term goals. We can’t build a network just for the sake of saying “we are building a network”; such actions don’t help Public Safety at all, in fact it’s detrimental to the cause. The solution for FirstNet cannot be a carrier solution, or a spectrum solution, nor can it be just broadband solution, the solution needs to be a balancing act of the needs and requirements of those that have the money to pay for services; those that have the cash to fund it; and those that need the service to subsist. The technology is the fun part; the hard part is figuring out the balancing act, a task I married myself to some twelve years ago. 

In the end, as I hinted to in an earlier article entitled; “A Silent Coup is Afoot” it’s clear that the Department of Commerce is indeed silently removing the carrier perception. That perception of the carriers influencing FirstNet must be quelled, the success of FirstNet, and its ability to converse with the States, will depend on it. As I have alluded to in the past, the best way forward is with the Myers Model™ Public Private Partnership, and that model needs to be adopted, not only by the State, but by FirstNet as well.

But who am I other than….

Just some guy and a blog….