Some things take an Act of Congress

Title VI of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 provided three important things:

1. Spectrum

   • Allocated the “D-Block” to public safety
   • Added 20MHz (10x10 MHz) to existing Public Safety Frequencies

2. Governance

   • Created the FirstNet Board

3. Funding

   • $7B for deployment and operations
   • $135M for state implementation planning

The Process Nationally

 

Image above taken from FirstNet.gov. For more on the national consultation process, please visit - FirstNet.gov

The Process in Maryland

 

In Maryland the process of getting to a final plan for the deployment and operation of the network will involve:

1. Collecting stakeholder thoughts, ideas, feedback and comments through active and ongoing outreach;
2. Turning the data shared by stakeholders into actionable information that can be used to create the plan for FirstNet deployment and operation in Maryland; and finally
3. Sharing that data through a process called "consultation" with the federal FirstNet team, so they can work interactively with Maryland to develop a final plan that meets the needs of Maryland's first responders.