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Delivering on the Promise: Deploying the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network

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PSBTA Team

The mission of the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association is to empower the first responder community by providing them with the tools and resources necessary to participate in the overall success of the network. This includes training a new generation of public safety processionals on the fundamentals of the network by providing access and a platform to trade ideas, innovations, best practices and lessons learned that will lead to smarter and more effective public safety services.

by | Jan 27, 2025 | Bulletins

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FISCAL YEAR 2023 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS


LETTER FROM BOARD CHAIR CHIEF RICHARD CARRIZZO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO JOE WASSEL 

We are pleased to report to Congress that Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 was one of achievement and continued progress for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority). 

First, we reached a consequential benchmark in the implementation of the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN). In FY 2023, the initial five-year network deployment of the NPSBN was completed in all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia (DC).1 These deployment goals had been memorialized in state plans, coordinated with public safety organizations and officials, and approved by governors2 in each state and territory. 

In just a few years, working through our public-private partnership with AT&T, we have fulfilled the objectives set forth in our founding legislation and established an operational network, providing life-saving communications technology to first responders across the country. Further, the FirstNet Authority remains a financially self-sustaining program. Thanks to the unique framework established under our enabling statute, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-96, Title VI, the Act), the Authority is funded by fees collected through the public-private partnership, at no direct cost to U.S. taxpayers. This is a distinctive accomplishment, which benefits public safety and the American people, in the service of a bold congressional vision. 

Second, we were pleased to see the collective stewardship of the FirstNet Authority over its first decade recognized when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, the Commission) approved the renewal of our Band 14 spectrum license. Since its inception, the FirstNet Authority has worked to minimize and mitigate risk through robust oversight and program management. In its Order approving license renewal, the FCC concluded that the FirstNet Authority had met its duties and obligations set forth in its founding legislation. 

The FCC license, however, is only one of two pillars required to ensure the continued operation of the FirstNet Authority. Without congressional reauthorization, the FirstNet program will sunset in February 2027. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO)3, if Congress does not take action to reauthorize the Authority before the sunset date, the program will not be able to provide the dedicated network services that millions of first responders have come to rely on each day. Early reauthorization by Congress will provide FirstNet subscribers in the public safety community across the U.S. with the assurance they need to know that FirstNet services will be there for them in the years to come. We welcome the opportunity to work with Congress toward this goal. 


Third, during the last fiscal year, we continued our vital work to support public safety, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days during the year. In FY 2023, public safety relied on FirstNet services during a variety of emergencies across the country – including natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, and infrastructure failure – and large-scale planned events as well as for day-to-day communications capabilities that help keep our nation’s communities safe. We also continued to engage in close coordination with public safety to catalyze innovation in broadband technology, and to provide first responders with the very best tools as we continue to upgrade the FirstNet network to meet the challenges of the future. This commitment was embodied in a public safety innovation summit, jointly sponsored by the FirstNet Authority and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division, which brought together leaders in the public safety space to collaborate on first responder communications technology. We are committed to continuing these efforts to remain at the cutting edge of public safety communications innovation. 

We have come a long way in a short time. The ingenuity and foresight that Congress brought to its careful statutory design of the FirstNet Authority has paid tangible dividends for first responders and the American people, whom they protect. Today, we are at the threshold of a new chapter in our story. Through our innovative public-private partnership with AT&T, and our close affiliation and collaboration with public safety nationwide, the FirstNet Authority is instilled with a renewed sense of commitment and purpose in serving the public safety community and leading the transformation of broadband public safety communications. 

We know that first responders give us their all every day. At the FirstNet Authority, we believe they deserve nothing less in return. 

Sincerely, 

CHIEF RICHARD CARRIZZO 
Board Chair 

JOE WASSEL 
Executive Director and CE

Download the Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report to Congress (PDF)

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About the Author

PSBTA Team

PSBTA Team

The mission of the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association is to empower the first responder community by providing them with the tools and resources necessary to participate in the overall success of the network. This includes training a new generation of public safety processionals on the fundamentals of the network by providing access and a platform to trade ideas, innovations, best practices and lessons learned that will lead to smarter and more effective public safety services.