Jane Edwards
The state of Massachusetts has requested proposals from potential vendors that can develop and maintain a statewide radio access network designed for public safety operations, Urgent Communications reported Thursday.
Curtis Wood, undersecretary for forensic science and technology at Massachusetts’ executive office of public safety and security, said the state governor and his personnel have not yet decided whether to “opt out” or accept the final state plan that is set to be delivered by the First Responder Network Authority by the fall of 2017.
FirstNet and AT&T started to develop state plans and a web portal to transmit such plans to states and U.S. territories under a public-private partnership to launch a national public safety broadband network for first responders.
“If, in fact, we get our state plan… and it’s something that we are not satisfied with or we feel that we might be able to do something differently, then we’ll… be able to follow through with a plan and go from there [by conducting the procurement],†Wood told the publication.
Wood said the state’s two-phase procurement process would require vendors to send capability statements by July 14 and submit financial and technical plans for the proposed RAN.
Massachusetts has become the seventh state to start a procurement process should it decide to opt-out from FirstNet’s deployment of a national network for first responders.
The state said in the request for response that potential vendors should state their capability to field a RAN that can be adopted by public safety users, meet Massachusetts’ coverage, security and capacity requirements and address concerns with regard to the statewide RAN’s financial sustainability.
