First-responder respondents overwhelmingly expressed support for Congress reauthorizing the FirstNet Authority and for all partners to the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) being US-based and US-owned, according to a survey commissioned by the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA)
By Donny Jackson, Editor, Urgent Communications
First-responder respondents overwhelmingly expressed support for Congress reauthorizing the FirstNet Authority and for all partners to the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) being US-based and US-owned, according to a survey commissioned by the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA).
Described by PSBTA as a bipartisan national effort conducted by Fabrizio Ward (Republican) and Impact Research (Democrat), the survey revealed that 93 per cent of the 500 respondents want Congress to reauthorize the FirstNet Authority—the government agency charged with overseeing the NPSBN—before the February 2027 sunset date (although the survey question indicated that the sunset was at “end of 2027”). This is not surprising, as even some of the harshest critics of the FirstNet Authority have acknowledged that it should be reauthorized.
PSBTA President Richard Carrizzo—the former chair of the FirstNet Authority board of directors—said the survey results reinforce this sentiment.
“This research makes clear what first responders already know — FirstNet works,” Carrizzo said in a prepared statement included in a PSBTA press release about the survey. “Congress must act to keep it running for those who protect us and save lives every day.”
A notable finding in the survey commissioned by PSBTA is that the vast majority of respondents indicated that the current debate should not be repeated in the future, as 86 per cent expressed support for the FirstNet Authority being authorized permanently by removing any sunset provisions. The current sunset date is 15 years from the FirstNet Authority being established by law in February 2012.
While there is general consensus that the FirstNet Authority should be reauthorized, there have been significant differences about the terms and conditions of any reauthorization. Noting some criticism of the FirstNet Authority in reports from government watchdog groups, many have proposed greater government oversight of the organization, and others have expressed support for some sort of mandatory NPSBN interoperability between FirstNet operated by AT&T and the other two nationwide carriers, Verizon and T-Mobile.
One intriguing aspect of the PSBTA-commissioned survey is that 91 per cent of public-safety respondents said that any NPSBN partner should be “US-based and US-owned,” according to the PSBTA press release on the matter. AT&T and Verizon are longtime US companies. T-Mobile has a US headquarters, but the company is majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom, a carrier based in Germany.
In 2016, the FirstNet Authority conducted an open procurement seeking a partner to build and maintain the NPSBN, which was mandated to be financially self-sustaining. AT&T was selected and signed a contract with the FirstNet Authority in March 2017 for a 25-year term, despite the fact that the law included a sunset decision after less than 10 years, in February 2027.
Since then, AT&T has completed the contracted initial five-year nationwide buildout of the FirstNet system on time and on budget—a task for which the carrier giant received the maximum $6.5 billion in federal money generated from the proceeds of FCC spectrum auctions conducted about a decade ago.
Under the terms of the 25-year deal, AT&T is required to pay the FirstNet Authority US$18 billion during the life of the contract—primarily for the right to use 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority for commercial purposes. This money from AT&T currently is the sole source of funding for the FirstNet Authority, which is a government agency that does not rely on appropriations from Congress to operate.
If Congress takes reauthorization action that involves significant changes to the current legislative arrangement, many Beltway sources have questioned if all existing obligations would remain legally binding. Making such judgments is particularly difficult, because the 25-year contract between the FirstNet Authority and AT&T has never been made available to the public.
Officially, Congress has until February 2027—about 16 months—to reauthorize the FirstNet Authority without risking disruption to the organization overseeing the NPSBN. However, there are potential timing issues that could create some challenges to public-safety FirstNet subscribers, if federal lawmakers wait to take action until early 2027.
Most local and state jurisdictions plan to complete their budgetary processes by July or October of a given year. If Congress does not reauthorize the FirstNet Authority—or other action is taken to assure that FirstNet users will maintain service in the event of a sunset—during the first half of 2026, public-safety officials and jurisdictions could be asked to seek alternative options, in case they are needed.
In fact, the PSBTA-commissioned survey results cite this, noting that 78 per cent of the respondents said the “added costs to develop contingency plans” was among the fears they have about Congress failing to act on FirstNet Authority reauthorization.
Meanwhile, Congress could face its own potential logistical challenges, if FirstNet Authority reauthorization is not resolved during the first half of 2026. During the second half of 2026, many lawmakers will be distracted by mid-term re-election campaigns.
After the election, there will be a lame-duck session of Congress before a new set of federal lawmakers are sworn into office in January 2027. If FirstNet Authority reauthorization has not been addressed at that point, a new Congress would have less than two months to take some sort of reauthorization action.
