“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.
“That’s why the FirstNet Board is on a listening tour. We’re taking the time to hear from our states, local communities and first responders, as they will be our customers. We need to better understand how public safety will use this network and what applications they want to see.
“The FirstNet Board has also been hard at work trying to resolve the issue with the seven suspended BTOP projects, and I am very pleased with the progress FirstNet has made. Based on our site visits and other discussions with the projects’ leaders and vendors, we’ve 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. Our task now is to negotiate the terms and conditions of agreements that will transform these potential benefits into the tangible results of meaningful, working relationships between FirstNet and the grantees.”