News and Events

WASHINGTON – The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board today adopted a resolution authorizing FirstNet Board member Sue Swenson to begin negotiations with the state of Texas to enter into a spectrum lease agreement for its public safety broadband project.

WASHINGTON  –  The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board announced today the hiring of Bill D’Agostino, Jr. to be its General Manager.  D’Agostino is an accomplished telecommunications and wireless industry executive, with 33 years of experience designing, operating and upgrading telecommunications networks.

NEW ORLEANS – First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board member Sue Swenson provided an update yesterday on FirstNet’s work to prepare for a nationwide public safety broadband network.  The following remarks are a summary of those delivered at the Competitive Carriers Association Global Expo in New Orleans on April 17.

Washington – FirstNet Board member Sue Swenson, the Board’s lead negotiator with the seven Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) public safety projects on 700 MHz spectrum leases, provided an update today on the process and status of the negotiations.   The Board in February adopted a resolution outlining its path forward with the seven public safety BTOP grantees, whose funding was partially suspended following enactment of the law creating FirstNet.

“Julius Genachowski has built a substantial legacy of accomplishments during his four years as Federal Communications Commission Chair. He has provided intellectual leadership to the U.S. government’s efforts to advance the spread of broadband nationwide and to provide more spectrum to meet the nation’s growing demand for wireless technologies. I have learned much from working with him over the years and most recently in his role as FCC Chairman. I wish him well in his future endeavors.”

WASHINGTON  –  Intuit today announced that the company supports the draft code of conduct being developed in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s privacy multistakeholder process, and that the company plans to adopt the code. The code, when finalized and adopted,  will improve disclosures regarding mobile applications' privacy practices.  In addition, other key stakeholders voiced general support for the direction the code is taking.

WASHINGTON – Following on NTIA's January 2013 report evaluating the potential use of up to 195 megahertz of additional spectrum in the 5 GHz band by unlicensed devices, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today proposed making the spectrum in the 5350-5470 MHz and 5850-5925 MHz bands available for such use. 

WASHINGTON – The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) today announced the structure and membership of FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC), which will be comprised of 40 representatives of public safety organizations.

“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.  

“The FirstNet Board understands that this network cannot be built without the critical input of the public safety community and states, tribes and regional groups. As a representative of that community, I’m committed to ensuring that these voices are heard as FirstNet develops plans for this nationwide public safety network. We’ve already begun our outreach to these stakeholders, but we’re just getting started. Please be patient because there’s much more to come.

BOULDER, Colo. – The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board today adopted a resolution outlining its path forward with the seven public safety Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grantees, whose funding was partially suspended following enactment of the law creating FirstNet. 

Washington — The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced the availability of $121.5 million in grants to assist states as they prepare for a nationwide public safety broadband network.

Washington, DC – National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling today delivered remarks at the Brookings Institution to underscore the importance of NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which works to expand access to broadband services to communities across the United States.

WASHINGTON – The city of Seattle, the University of Washington, Gigabit Squared (a private company), and Gig.U joined together today to announce plans to deploy Gigabit networks and services to 12 Seattle neighborhoods.  The project targets areas surrounding the University of Washington as well as several underserved areas.

WASHINGTON –  Following up on NTIA's recommendation from our 2010 Fast-Track evaluation and last year's spectrum report of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted today in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposals that would open the doo

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce on November 29, 2012, approved renewal of the .com Registry Agreement between Verisign, Inc., and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Through this agreement, Verisign will manage the registry for the .com top level domain for six more years. 

WASHINGTON - First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board Chairman Sam Ginn announced today the appointment of four Vice Chairs of FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC).

WASHINGTON – First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Chairman Sam Ginn praised the Federal Communications Commission for granting FirstNet its spectrum license, marking another important step in the effort to build and operate a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network.

WASHINGTON - First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board Chairman Sam Ginn announced today the appointment of Harlin McEwen as Chairman of FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee. 

In recognition of the need for states and first responders impacted by Hurricane Sandy to focus their attention and resources on helping citizens recover from the devastating effects of that storm, NTIA will accept comments filed in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) related to the FirstNet conceptual presentations until Friday, November 9, 2012.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board of Directors held its first meeting today, marking a significant milestone towards deployment of a nationwide wireless broadband network that will enable first responders to better communicate with each other during emergencies, improve response time and save lives.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today that it has awarded the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions contract to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).  The IANA functions are key technical services critical to the continued operations of the Internet's underlying address book, the Domain Name System (DNS).

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Commerce, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), today announced its finding that 95 megahertz (MHz) of prime spectrum could be repurposed for wireless broadband use. Reallocation of this spectrum would represent significant progress towards achieving President Obama’s goal to nearly double the amount of commercial spectrum available this decade.