Allegations Of Dysfunction Continue To Plague FirstNet, Our $47 Billion National Emergency Network

When first responder communications networks failed after 9/11, the government decided to build a nationwide wireless emergency communications network that would actually work. It took a decade of general histrionics and dysfunction by Congress, but in 2012 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act formally created the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). FirstNet is an entirely new federal agency tasked with coordinating the build of a 700 MHz LTE-based coast-to-coast emergency broadband network.

But since its creation the effort (tell us if you've heard this one before) has been plagued with dysfunction, allegations of incumbent carrier cronyism, and stories of people getting paid a significant sum of money despite not actually producing anything of note. Fifteen years after 9/11 and four years after FirstNet was formally created, the program is showing only modest signs of progress. According to a new report in The Atlantic, completion projections for the project are now reaching $47 billion, without much of anything to show for it so far:

"It took FirstNet two years just to recruit a skeleton staff, only to be hit by an inspector general’s report that found potential conflicts of interest and problems with the awarding of initial consulting contracts. It then took another two years to issue a request for proposal (RFP) asking contractors to bid on the work to build and operate the system."

From another thread- the person, a woman named Marlin Younger- who found the j6 pipebombs on Jan 6, 2021 with the 60 minute timers worked nearby for Firstnet. Firstnet had also just received a big FBI grant in December 2020 :

snip. ...But, of course, D’Antuono does not need to fuel any “conspiracy theories” about the pipe bomb incident. Beattie has raised numerous questions about the FBI’s handling of the investigation, such as apparently doctored video of the suspect’s movements. It’s also unclear, according to D’Antuono’s testimony, whether the FBI interviewed the woman who first found the device near the RNC. As I reported last year, Younger worked at the time for an agency called FirstNet, a public-private partnership between AT&T and first responders. The month before the Capitol protest, FirstNet received a $92 million grant from the FBI—which is either a wacky coincidence or another way in which FBI surrogates participated in the events of January 6.

Surely with such a professional connection between his agency and Younger, D’Antuono easily could have invited her to answer a few questions. But somehow, his “no stone left unturned” investigation did not include a sit-down with the one individual responsible for finding the bomb and notifying police. Why not?.../snip

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