THE PRESIDENT’S NATIONAL SECURITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE NSTAC Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network Scoping Report May 15 2012 NSTAC NATIONWIDE PUBLIC SAFETY BROADBAND NETWORK SCOPING RECOMMENDATIONS DOCUMENT I Overview and Background The Federal Government and public safety community are harnessing advanced communications technologies to deploy a nationwide public safety broadband network NPSBN to enhance emergency communications The vision and need for the NPSBN has been referenced by multiple critical national security reports including the 9 11 Commission Report the Federal Communications Commission’s FCC 2006 Independent Advisory Committee’s Report on the Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned and the 2007 NSTAC Report to the President on Emergency Communications and Interoperability The FCC’s 2010 National Broadband Plan also called for the need of an NPSBN and in February 2011 the Federal Government released the Wireless Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative which emphasized the Administration’s commitment to creating such a network by calling for a $10 7 billion investment for the NPSBN In June 2011 the Executive Office of the President EOP requested that the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee NSTAC examine the proposed NPSBN to assist the Government’s planning efforts After some initial scoping activities the NSTAC’s Designated Federal Official DFO and Department of Homeland Security leadership determined there were specific security and policy aspects related to the network’s deployment and operations for the NSTAC to investigate In November 2011 the DFO appointed an NPSBN Scoping Subcommittee to examine the national security and emergency preparedness NS EP implications of an NPSBN From January through April 2012 the scoping subcommittee received briefings from organizations across the public safety community to help scope and focus its examination On February 22 2012 President Obama signed P L 112-96 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 This bill included Title VI—Public Safety Communications and Electromagnetic Spectrum Auctions which authorized funding and established a governance structure for the NPSBN Specifically the bill established the First Responder Network Authority FirstNet as an independent entity within the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and as the authority for the NPSBN granted a 10-year license for the D-Block spectrum to FirstNet for use by the NPSBN created the Public Safety Interoperability Board Interoperability Board within the FCC to develop and recommend technical requirements to ensure the NPSBN’s nationwide interoperability allocated over $7 billion in funds for NPSBN-related capital expenditures established a grant program to help State and local jurisdictions plan for and integrate their networks with the NPSBN funded NPSBN research and development activities and facilitated the advancement of other NPSBN-related initiatives The legislation did not however address any NS EP implications for the NPSBN including how the NPSBN may impact the current NS EP communications environment P L 112-96 included a timeline for the establishment of the Interoperability Board and FirstNet Key deadlines included in the legislation are  Establishment of the Interoperability Board within 30 days of the signing of P L 112-96 The FCC established the Interoperability Board on March 23 2012  Submission of technical recommendations to the FCC by the Interoperability Board 1 within 90 days of the signing of P L 112-96 by May 22 2012  Approval of the Interoperability Board’s technical recommendations by the FCC and submission of the recommendations to FirstNet within 30 days of the FCC’s receipt of the recommendations by June 21 2012  Termination of the Interoperability Board no more than 15 days after the FCC submits the approved technical recommendations to FirstNet by July 6 2012  Appointment of members to FirstNet within 180 days of the signing of P L 112-96 by August 20 2012 and  Establishment of the NPSBN State and Local Implementation Grant Program within 180 days of the signing of P L 112-96 by August 20 2012 II Proposal to NSTAC The NSTAC should vote to create a research subcommittee for the NPSBN which would study the subject within the guidelines outlined here The development and implementation of the NPSBN is an issue of rapidly-growing importance to the public safety community and the Nation as a whole The NSTAC should investigate what if any NS EP policy changes at the Federal level might be needed to help facilitate the NPSBN’s deployment and operations and examine the NS EP implications of the NPSBN III Estimated Time Frame and Priority High Priority This is a high priority issue given the passage of P L 112-96 and the Department of Commerce’s work to establish FirstNet Therefore the NSTAC plans close coordination with the EOP on the identified issues and will develop a phased report schedule to address issues in a timely manner The estimated time frame for a subcommittee to perform work as scoped herein can be found in Section VI IV Value in Researching Issue The Federal Government is making a significant investment to improve public safety communications and build a foundation for which first responders can have access to a robust nationwide broadband network Given the role of Federal State local and tribal responders and intersections with Federal NS EP issues the NSTAC proposes to examine NS EP-related issues to provide insight and support to the deployment and operations of the NPSBN Schedule requirements in this case make it necessary to select specific key questions for focused attention while possibly leaving others to be addressed later The goal must be to create a broad understanding to support identification of the full scope of interest and to inform follow-on studies by the NSTAC or perhaps other entities in the future Within that context the NSTAC should examine and provide possible recommendations on a short list of the most immediate and pressing issues related to NPSBN and the implications for NS EP In light of the nationwide purpose and focus of the NPSBN and the enactment of the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ” the questions for examination are intended to be inclusive of the following considerations 2  Primary users of the NPSBN will be multi-jurisdictional Federal State local and tribal and multi-disciplinary e g police fire emergency medical services public safety organizations The issues below also consider potential secondary users  NPSBN users will include small and large community public safety organizations representing rural suburban and urban communities  For the purposes of this scoping effort the NPSBN is defined as being inclusive of radio access networks core networks user devices and user applications  There may be additional features required for the NPSBN that are not typically provided through commercial deployment and operations  Issues proposed to be examined may include short- medium- and long-term considerations and may include opportunities for leveraging commercial research and development and market innovations for the infusion of new emerging technologies and business models into the NPSBN  First responders will operate on both the NPSBN for data capabilities and legacy Land Mobile Radio networks for voice capabilities for the near future  The proposed examination will leverage existing technical work and examinations performed by public safety industry and standards groups where possible Specific questions the subcommittee should focus on are 1 What NS EP policy changes should be considered to a Facilitate priority access that may be required across the diverse community of potential NPSBN users Federal State local tribal and secondary users particularly during NS EP situations e g emergencies and special events b Support NPSBN access interoperability security reliability and resiliency and c Help ensure the deployment and evolution of the NPSBN in a manner that accounts for jurisdictions’ diverse capabilities while helping to ensure scalability to the national level 2 What policy changes should be considered that encourage the innovative evolution of NS EP functions by or through the NPSBN V Approach 1 Receive briefings from key authorities in Government and elsewhere that apply to the issues raised in Section IV including extant policies jurisdictional regulations technical issues practices lessons learned research and other sources that may be applicable The NSTAC will not interfere with or impact the ongoing NPSBN-related examinations of other organizations and will continuously seek updates on these examinations to inform its work 2 Develop answers to questions in Section IV above The NPSBN Scoping Subcommittee is recommending a two-phased approach in order to effectively address the scope of the questions and make timely recommendations to the President The initial report would focus on how policies may need to be updated to enable priority access on and 3 innovation through the NPSBN Questions 1a and 2 and the second report would provide additional recommendations that support use of the NPSBN for NS EP purposes Questions 1b and 1c 3 Use those findings to inform and develop recommendations to the President VI Schedule 1  Government agreement to create an NSTAC Research Subcommittee for the NPSBN – May 2012  Appointment of subcommittee chair and members by the NSTAC DFO – June 2012  Hold first meeting –June 2012  Identify and invite relevant outside briefers and subject matter experts – June 2012 including  Organizations from within the public safety community  Organizations from sectors that support the public safety community and  Other examples of organizations and projects engaged with the NPSBN in Government industry and the public sector e g NIST FCC National Academies SAFECOM Google RAND  Complete development of the first phased report Questions 1a and 2 – November 2012  Discuss report’s findings conclusions and recommendations – November 2012  Present draft report to NSTAC members – December 2012  Finalize report and deliver to President – December 2012  Complete development of the second phased report Questions 1b and 1c – April 2013  Discuss report’s findings conclusions and recommendations – April 2013  Present draft report to NSTAC members – May 2013 Finalize report and deliver to President – May 2013  1 This timeline is designed with an understanding of the work and timelines for the Interoperability Board and FirstNet and may require adjustments after these bodies are established and progress with their work 4