We should be talking about “Interoperability”, but…
Richard Mirgon, Editorial Staff, All Things FirstNet published an article entitled Drilling Down Some Key Differences Between FirstNet and Verizon on Aug. 26, 2019. At the outset, the article states that Verizon, according to Mr. Mirgon, makes “me too” statements. “As FirstNet grows and innovates, we hear a lot from Verizon about ‘I can do that’ and ’we’re the same’ or as I like to say, ‘me too.”
I disagree, as Verizon has a decades long relationship with public safety, as it has been and continues to be the market leader. Verizon has the most trusted and reliable network for public safety in the country with superior coverage and capacity for our nation’s first responders. For these reasons, Verizon is the public safety leader in the state and local, federal, and tribal markets.
Neither Verizon nor AT&T are first responders, but their networks are. Their networks are used to call for help at the most vulnerable time in most people’s lives. Their networks are also used by public safety to respond to those calls.
Mr. Mirgon erroneously asserts that FirstNet is “owned by public safety.” In fact, FirstNet is a federal entity housed within the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information and Administration (NTIA). FirstNet is tasked with overseeing the establishment of a nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN), which is being deployed using AT&T’s network. The NPSBN is merely an option for public safety. Public safety agencies are not required or mandated to use FirstNet under the law.
Back to Mr. Mirgon’s claim that FirstNet is “owned by public safety,” here are AT&T’s own words in a recent amicus curiae brief that it filed in the Second Circuit — even if there is “standing to bring the lawsuit, the case should not be sent back to the district court because the FirstNet network is owned, maintained and operated by AT&T and not the government.” Also, AT&T noted that FirstNet’s statutory purpose is not to build and operate the network, but “ensure the building, deployment, and operation of the network by ‘partnering with a private entity that will actually build, operate and maintain the network.’”
It should also be noted that portions of the contract between FirstNet and AT&T have been kept secret and are not FOIA-discoverable. Why is it that U.S. taxpayers and public safety officials cannot have access to these contract terms?
Interestingly, in Dec. 2017, a Vermont district court ruled that the FirstNet Authority is exempt from FOIA under language in the Middle-Class Job Creation and Tax Relief Act, which created the authority. The District Court ruling is on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Thus, according to AT&T, FirstNet is owned, operated, and maintained by AT&T and not the Federal government, contrary to Mr. Mirgon’s assertion that “FirstNet, as we all know, is owned by public safety.”
Yes, Verizon is a commercial network and so is AT&T. AT&T’s fourth quarter 2018 earnings report to shareholders reported a “capital investment included about $1.2 billion in FirstNet capital costs and $1.4 billion in FirstNet capital reimbursements.”
In regard to the Donny Jackson interview (https://urgentcomm.com/2019/08/20/verizon-optimistic-about-position-in-the-public-safety-marketplace-company-exec-says/) with Mike Maiorana, Senior Vice President for Verizon’s public-sector unit, I would like to set the record straight.
Verizon works closely with first responders and public safety to offer service plans that meet their unique needs. And Verizon isn’t afraid to step up and take responsibility in the rare instance when they don’t live up to their service goals. More than a year ago, it announced that first responders will have priority access and no data cap restrictions. Further, Verizon has made clear that in times of emergency, any remaining restrictions on other public safety customers will be lifted, regardless of their plans. And Verizon has backed that up, ensuring that first responders and public safety had full and speedy access during emergencies from fire in Hawaii to hurricanes in Florida. They’ve offered public safety enhancements in the last year are available to public safety at no cost, e.g., Responder Private Core, QoS, Priority, Preemption, Emergency Mass Notification. We should praise and encourage companies that take action to do the right thing for public safety and that are constantly trying to improve their services.
Verizon also provides public safety with “always-on” top tier priority and preemption. Moreover, they do this on the nation’s most awarded, most reliable network. Ranked #1 overall network in the U.S. 12 times in a row and undefeated in overall reliability, speed, data, call and text according to RootMetrics national rankings. Verizon also has invested more than $126 billion in network infrastructure since 2000 and invests billions more each year to expand and improve its network.
Regarding a virtualized vs. a legacy physical core, yes, indeed, Mr. Mirgon is not a network engineer. Here’s a great read on why you should virtualize. Yes, the author is AT&T. https://www.att.com/Common/merger/files/pdf/synaptic_hosting/virtualization_technology-WP.pdf
Below are some of the primary reasons to virtualize today, most importantly, unless you virtualize, you will not achieve the full benefits of 5G, public safety’s next-generation network.
• 5G Ready — Virtualized
• Automated mechanisms for managing increased capacity needs of first responders
• Scalable transport bandwidth to meet growing capacity demands
• Ability to distribute multiple sites worldwide for improving scalability and flexibility based on public safety customer needs
• Multi-tiered redundant environment for maximum uptime for public safety customers
• Enhanced security capabilities
• Real-time reporting of service status for better public safety customer support
• On-demand reporting of usage statistics
• 24x7 monitoring of global sites
As for deployables, since deployable assets were first deployed in the 1990s, Verizon has always given public safety and national security priority access to their fleet of deployables. A Verizon public safety customer is not required to purchase a deployable. Verizon always runs to a crisis, and where necessary, deploy its assets at no cost to public safety.
Further, Verizon also has a long-standing relationship with the first responder community. They support the National Law Enforcement Museum in D.C. and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring officers, supporting their families and making law enforcement jobs safer for those who serve.
Verizon also has worked extensively with public safety in the past, most notably to help public safety acquire the 700 MHz “D Block” or “FirstNet” radio frequency spectrum. Verizon was the first Carrier to publicly support the FirstNet legislative effort and worked along-side public safety and others in support of this national investment for public safety communications. No, Verizon was not a part of the winning FirstNet bid, but Verizon did more than “win a bid,” they “invested” in public safety.
FirstNet has sparked investment from Verizon, and other network providers, and this has resulted in improved innovation and has lowered the cost of service for Federal, State, and local and Tribal agencies.
Regarding lipstick on a pig, I have worked with Verizon for many years and frankly, Verizon doesn’t wear a lot of makeup! They spend more “doing” than they do “marketing,” which when you think about it, is makeup/lipstick… What you see is what you get, and that is the nation’s largest, most reliable, most awarded cellular network. With Verizon’s millimeter wave spectrum advantage and rapid deployment of 5G mobile (10th city launched this week), their network superiority will only increase. If you were playing a game of “Network Chess” that’s “Checkmate” for yet another generation of cellular communications.
Finally, I realize that Mr. Mirgon’s most recent article and his countless articles about Verizon in his “All Things FirstNet” publication are all in support of his client AT&T, but I think it would be better if the focus of his articles were on “What AT&T can do” instead of “What you wish Verizon could not do”. Remember, if you always focus on number 1, you will always be number 2.
Robert A. LeGrande, II
