FirstNet Delays RFP Deadline, Capability Statements

FirstNet delayed the deadline for final request for proposal submissions for the deployment of a U.S. public safety broadband network by two weeks -- from April 29 to May 13 -- and pushed back the final day to submit voluntary capability statements by two weeks, to March 31, a news release said Friday. The extended deadlines were in response to the more than 400 questions FirstNet received on the RFP, it said. FirstNet also released the first set of answers to the industry RFP questions, most of which focused on "administrative actions and procurement processes," a FirstNet Q&A overview fact sheet said. The remaining answers to submitted stakeholder questions "will be provided on a rolling basis as expeditiously as possible," FirstNet said. "We are pleased with the interest and questions we received from industry, states, and public safety regarding the FirstNet RFP," CEO Mike Poth said in a statement. Poth called the opportunity for stakeholders to submit questions and have them answered a "vital next step in the iterative process as potential offerors work to craft their proposed solutions" to deploy a network for first responders and said FirstNet staff "are diligently working to answer each question" from stakeholders. FirstNet said it will work to post any amendments to the RFP it deems necessary after reviewing questions "as quickly as possible" and "may do so in increments." FirstNet will host a pre-proposal conference on the RFP March 10 in the afternoon at its headquarters in Reston, Virginia.