In 2009, the leadership of the major public safety organizations came together for the first time ever to ask Congress for dedicated spectrum and funds to build out and maintain the first-ever dedicated Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN). In 2012, the U.S. Congress allocated 20 MHz of spectrum (D Block), $7 billion to public safety, and created FirstNet and the governance framework, the FirstNet Authority.
After many successful years of operation and growth, the FirstNet Authority is up for Congressional reauthorization. To ensure public safety has continued and uninterrupted access to the FirstNet network and that first responders’ mission-critical communications remain a priority as capabilities evolve and grow. It is critical that first responders from across the country let Congress know how critical FirstNet is to our first responders. This dedicated broadband network is vital for current and future public safety technologies, and reauthorization ensures that the current 7 million users continue to have access to their network.