ALEA Establishes Final Request for Proposal Deadline for Alabama Public Safety Broadband Radio Access Network

Matt Boster

Viewed: 2058

Posted by: Matt Boster
Date: Dec 31 2016 10:00 AM

MONTGOMERY – On October 14th , the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) extended the deadline for response to its Request for Proposal (RFP) regarding the Alabama Public Safety Broadband Radio Access Network (PSB-RAN) after several major vendors indicated they would be unable to submit an RFP response until FirstNet’s nationwide partner was announced.

Anticipating that FirstNet would name its nationwide partner by the end of 2015, ALEA chose to extend its deadline to allow for the broadest set of respondents. Since that time, FirstNet has delayed the announcement of their nationwide partner indefinitely based on a legal challenge to the partner selection process. The indefinite delay is likely to push FirstNet’s partner announcement well into the Spring of 2017. FirstNet has, however, consistently indicated that they are not slowing their efforts to prepare for the eventual announcement and preparation of state plans.

In fact, they have indicated that they plan to have the state plan portal operational within 90 days of the announcement, and multiple key officials have made public statements that they are moving forward with their preparations for deployment of the FirstNet network as soon as the legal challenge is resolved. “We will continue to solidify our operational readiness … and be ready for those Day 1 operations once the award is made,” FirstNet Chief Counsel Jason Karp said.

“We can and we will continue on all aspects of the procurement during this time, short of making the award,” FirstNet Chief Executive Officer Mike Poth said. “In other words, it will be full speed ahead at FirstNet.” 2 ALABAMA LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY 201 SOUTH UNION STREET, SUITE 300 / P.O. BOX 304115 / MONTGOMERY, AL 36130-4115 PHONE 334.517.2800 / ALEA.GOV ROBERT BENTLEY GOVERNOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY STAN STABLER SECRETARY KEVIN WRIGHT DEPUTY SECRETARY FirstNet President TJ Kennedy reviewed a planned timeline for actions in the 100 days after the contract award.

The timeline includes a kickoff meeting, preliminary design review meeting, critical design review meeting, and reviews concerning mission critical services, devices, network implementation, nationwide state radio access network planning, and network design. The timeline calls for a state plan portal to be ready on the 90th day.

Officials have said that the schedule could be modified based on the partner’s input. “What’s critical as we get into these first 100 days is that the processes are in place, and they’re lean,” Mr. Kennedy said. “They’re not subject to a bunch of bureaucracy that’s going to slow us down.” -- TR Daily, Dec. 14, 2016 Based on FirstNet’s continued diligence towards providing the 56 states and territories with a viable state plan as soon as 90 days after the announcement of its nationwide partner, ALEA has determined that it is in the state’s best interest to establish a final deadline for Alabama’s PSBRAN.

This will allow the state to properly review RFP proposals prior to delivery of the state’s FirstNet draft state plan. ALEA strongly encourages all interested parties to respond to the RFP, which is posted on the state’s STARRS Vendor System at https://procurement.staars.alabama.gov The final closing date of the Request for Proposal (RFP) regarding the Alabama Public Safety Broadband Radio Access Network (PSB-RAN) has now been established as: 4:00 p.m. CST January 31, 2017 PLEASE NOTE: This notice supersedes Public Notice No. 2 issued Oct. 14, 2016, that established the deadline as 15 business days after the public announcement of FirstNet’s Nationwide Partner.

<- back