including michael and virginia deputy secretary of public safety curtis brown is one hour and 45 minutes. the subcommittee will come to order.rder today we meet for an update. ont first met and the excitingcitind efforts to deploy the nationwide interoperablenationwide public t broadband network. i look forward to the attendance in just a moment or two and mr. ranking member. congress created the first responder network authority to lead the development authority of a nationwide interoperability safety broadband network in thed united states. the communications failures tham plague the murecovery efforts during 9/11that plagu and othern emergencies including hurricane katrina there was and still is the need for a reliable network for the public safety officials. such would improve the coordination among firston on fn responders across multipleross e jurisdictions and enhance the ability of first responders to life-saving services last y quickly. the committee convened for an update on the progress in ettn establishing the safety broadband network. each state is deploying a network at first but alsonetwor reiterated its commitment to providing reliable coverage to rural areas, an issue near and dear to my heart and to a number of other members of thethe subcommittee. we assure members of the subcommittee's that would be priced for public safety users to issue great importance to thet responders around country. it's open innovation and test laba test to develop and test ni implications that can be used for first responders on the ubyt future of the public safety network. in march, they formerly selected at&t as its industry partner to build a fight and maintain the network over pa the next 25 years and last month issued thestnet u initial state plans which detailed its deployment proposals for the radio accessss network in the states and jurisdictions. i look forward to hearing more more a about each of these actions. i'm eager to learn the buildout plans. i hope our witnesses will also address the development of subscription pricing plans forr public safety officials subscr to use the network and how the plans are being developed in coordination with the states.lio i look forward to hearing about the resiliency of the network in particular how first met and 18 he will harbor them and secure it from the potential cyber i iv threats and natural disastersatd and other planned events. additionally i meant us to do w fi now at&t will incorporate feedback from the state beforete stat the initial plans are finalizedz were finalized. by any estimation the development of this nationwide public safety broadband network istwork a challenge but it's an important endeavor to ensure first responders can fulfill their daily mission to save lives. they put their lives on the lin. every day. they deserve a network that is interoperable, reliable andble d secure. i welcomese all the witnessessi today that includesof o mr. curs brown deputy secretary of the virginia secretary of public o safety andf public homeland sec. the assistant professor university of mississippisippi r medical center, mr. mark goldstein, physical issues, government accountability office, chief executive officeri and a senior vice president ati at&t. in 2012 when congress created first met we made a commitment to public safety at the time we knew from the tragedies of the september 11ti in hurricanespons katrina that they faced glaring communication problems and alsot couldn't communicate with onenor another in an emergency and we also knew the problems could bed solved with a nationwidee interoperable public safetynati. communication network today we are closer than ever to making that a reality. firefigters will be able to download the blueprint for the burning building before they l enter and aik police officer arriving at the scene can run a get pictureseck or by accessing a federal law enforcement database and mostlaw importantly will not be competing with commercial users. for bandwidth and will haveve they priority on the network that wil will be built in the specifications with convicted of the vices and specify public safety applications for the decades to come but it's also a task. huge task and this is the first time we've done anythingdone lie this. the board made good progress ana we now have a vendor that brings assets that goes beyond. they've delivered plans to each ahead of schedule, five states alreadyule. opted in and many as the review process and we hope the states and first responders learn more about the value of the network. many of us represent the areasrs of the country the communities already suffer from a lack of these access to commercial broadband it services so it is critical that they address the challenge headn on so that every first responder benefit from the new network.eta it is the responsibility to assure the specific needs of the states and territories are expert at through all aspects to the operation and management of. each state has made a final decision on how to participate the partners can begin thein network that delivers on the promise congress made it to the publicth in 2012. >> this reflect the importance of the topic ands the interest f americans in this chapter. if it's alright we will take the testimony in this order and go from one end of the table to another and end up in the middle you are recognized to go first. >> thank you ranking member andr members of the committee. yowould like to thank you forrl the opportunity to discuss theop efforts to ensure firstportun responders have the capabilitiee necessary to respond to all hazards. the governor was proud to announce virginia was the first state in the nation virginia wao provide the current public safety subscribersde to benefit and services at no cost to the e commonwealth as well as the como green light in the portion ofna thesa network we believe thehe decision will promote competition and the public safety safety communicationsmarkace tht marketplace to reduce costs and drive innovation across the carriers. innov it would consider the unknown costat and risk associated inh d deploying and operating the network wasn't feasible and it'h been a leader in tas lhe field f interoperability for public safety and the decision continues a trend. hy aunique geography and geograp critical infrastructure requirey robust security programs tofor prepare for a wide range oftentm threats from terrorism to hurricanes and therefore it's vital that professionals are pui equipped with the tools needed onals are qu save lives. the lessons learned aree who si implemented and many administered during the ceremonial signing of the lettei with the response of 9/11 at the pentagon in arlington. i'm joined by my colli'eague frm virginia been instrumental torto engage the virginia public safety stakeholders includinge fire, ems and emergency management.ergenc the homeland security resiliencf staff director, state point of contact has been instrumental in the efforts to review documents and charles warner fromer from charlottesville is recognized on the subject of emergencyat communication and innovation fo. public safety. serving as the state interoperability chair was past president of the gentle have ant their expertise and yearsam of service to improve thertise - communications and virginia vgia nationally therefore the decisiononnational to often wasd years of study and outreach in collaboration with public safetc stakeholders. moving forward we will work with at&t to maximize the benefit of the network for the commonwealth public safety community isic sac essential to the collaborative effort is the commitment to ndsureto this collababeffort iso especially for the responderss and the communities it is alsooi critical to them. co. emphasized the effort andmic advance the schedule for enhanced location capabilities to 2019 in order to adequately protect men and womenn in n iform.r men anwome as the governor mentioned lastsk week, the decision marks another significant a step forward.re creating the reliable network for public safety thank you again and i look forward to answering your questions.ed five >> chairman, ranking members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. on what the the challenges and opportunities in the medical i arena i'm the emergencyen physician by trade, publici am r safety byt background and i see as a medical director for the center for mercy services at th- university center that looks at y research mississippi hasalleng d challenges and healthcare unlike many care other states challeng, chronic disease, location ofdere providers and limited providers as the state progresses forward. the integration of the reliable broadband network is vital for mi to make things happen that w currently cannot do. mississippi is one of the leading states in public telecommunications. it has revolutionized the wayreu that we practice medicine inti mississippi. in 2010 they won a broadband technology within the award to overlay broadband data over an existing land mobile radio network to integrate and improve our health care we still believe that. during the development of deployment of the the developmee learned many lessons on how to deploy, develop and integrate a system to improve public safety and medical care for s provider. we have the potential to meet many of these needs. many of us don't have the capacity where we need it mostah and medicine. now they have coverage in the middlees but now t of nowhere ft medical care or specifically to get the patient where they need to go to. much of the same discussion is going on in other rooms by healthcare. we believe that the broadbandgoe data is essential going forward. from the medical perspective wee a medical perspective we need reliable public safety data communications that's vital and the biggest question on the preemption we've embarked on a unique opportunity to improve health care in the state oneh cr example we relieved fromgranivef homeland security and thesecurit medicalhe communication project where we are engaged.ta on how if we talk about this earlier it's been retooled to say we are going to do and innovation to do look at the ability to take the same data and how do we transfer better over the wireless system we believe this is a vital step for the systems going forward. this is vital for us we have tos get innovative and rural america and this is one of the ways tot. we h do it. we hope in the oversight role this will help first met become what we all need as we help thel as well. the areas of the state that are currentlyy va underserved. impact it's almost weekly a three car accident in rural mississippisuw taxes the same resources that'sf where we need this the most. pui to push the boundaries of possibilities they are there and they cananof possibiliti push t. it could allow us to do that.ur. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. next we will hear from the government accountability office mr did i pronounce your name correctly? way? >>u are recognized for five minutes thanks to the subcommittee. s. mrmr>> you arer we are publicly releasing today and we previously reported and testified which one examines. there's the network reliability, security and interoperabilityne challenges in the research to address them. we fully explore the concern.o e it's charged with establishing n et inationwide public safety broadband networks chargetabliss reliable, secure and profitable to inform the work with a variety of stakeholders. oversit the performance is important given the scope of the network and the duration of the contract. among the findings in the report of theg ga following first condd efforts to establish the network eff releasing the request for the network they will be responsible for the opposition and evolution of the network.ork. additionally they consulted with state and local, federal into trouble networks and officials contacted were generally satisfied with efforts to engage them. mec it is to contact and working group they noted individuals experiences are not able toexpe represent tribal views directly among the key decision-makers. although it is required to consult with tribes through the points of contact for tribal communication is to seek full understanding of the concernsndl and reached a consensus where possible by exploring and proposing actions with akeholless concerns they could help improve relations and better meet stakeholder needs. they face challenges to ensure the reliability of a securenetws ability. for example, they raise concerns related to providing coverage to rural areas and buildings are underground and ensuring the overall resiliency andnd netw cybersecurity and managingcybery framework for user identity,frau credentialing users can access management and prioritization of the network. netwo first met has taken actions on this site just by opening a test lab to test public safetys and devices and applications before deploying them on the network. e the majority contacted were satisfied with the efforts of sh many noted uncertainty remains about how it will be implemented and its overall playability. third is establish offices to oversee its network contractor develop policies and proceduresd to guide the administration andd putting management and oversighv and is receiving assistance from foother agency. for example they established the program office to oversee theffo contractor's performance and facilitate que alithe ty assurar among other things.firstnet h ny they haven't yet conducted a long-term projection for staffing its office as of recent months.e as a result, it would have sufficient resources toha handle increases in its responsibilities over time. planning for and assigninguate adequate resources including people in the resources resourcs the key practice for planningtip and executing effectivelannin ct oversight, but performing the long-term staffing it would be in a better position to fullytad understand the staffing needs and respond to the changes and risks but assume for responsibility to contact the administration in the future. this concludes my statement and i would be happy to address any questions. >> thank you. e involved in some q-and-a in a few moments. we will go to you mac stand here from at&t. next hear r 's good to have you with us.ce >> mr. chairman, ranking members of the committee, i'm the senior vicend mem president of and curi responsible for at&t fulfillment of the first contract including the design and executing on thex business model that will support a nationwide first responder nae network. we are honored to have beenoseno chosen to build and manage the network. i achieve this mission as a spel special opportunity for at&t ans its employees to demonstrate the continued commitment toployee pc safety and our communities. i'm especially grateful for the opportunity at&t is committed td dedicating an interoperable interoperabl network to give responders the technologyill they need to effectively communicate and collaborate across agencies andn jurisdictions. the at&t team i lead isthat i dedicatedes exclusively. rstnet cou i expect the group to have several hundred employees. as we hire people across the country with a broad range offpo skill sets to help us ramp up theebroad network buildout ovel at&t expects to send $40 billion over the lifetime of this contract and to build a nationwide interoperable ip-based high-speed mobilenetwok network encrypted in its quarter that will provide first prov responders priority, primaryes w users with preemption and all other users during times of agey presidency and network congestion.etwork constion. the first network will be connected to and leverage off nn be co the world-classcommunicions telecommunications platform valued at nearly $180 billion including the wireless report that reaches 99.6% of the u.s. populati population.on in addition, at&t will support first responders with a dedicated security operations center and help desk. we will provide first responders with a highly secure application ecosystem as well as high compared to flexible pricing ond a clement and services theyth select for theirat they select . one of the most important resource is at&t brings to bears es the network is the best in ob class national disaster recover. team. we've spent more than 133,0000wk working hours on field exercises and disaster recovery deployments over the last few decades. decades. this team combines network infrastructure, support trailers, recovery engineering software applications and boots on applica the ground filled by full-time and voluntary at&t disaster response team members. it is the first network, at&t will increaseebernard support t by getting 72 new designs intoe vehicles for the first mission.. it's not just about today's technology, it's about toda romorrow's technological p promises. at&t will continue to innovate and evolve the network to responders benefit public safety.. the possibilities include no real-time information on traffic conditions that can help information on traffic the besti them better situational awareness and camera dronestersd robots that will be able deliver real-time imagery. we expect to create 10,000 jobs as well as public-private infrastructure investment. we believe the benefit for the naonwide i interoperability as such if we build the states will come. i'm happy to report as of today five states have opted in, opted virginia, wyoming, arkansas, ar, kentucky and most recently, iowa. as i described a significant predecessor and others that will others t operate in the future of wherelm the long-term risks risk associated with funding, maintaining ed with and managid maintaining a network that operates with the network. states and territories provide other agencies with access to theafety agen competitive rates. thank you for having me and iagr ha look forward to addressingvi any questions. did i pronounce your name correctly quite >> you nailed it. members of the committee thank a you for inviting me toir testifi today.go and spo to you i spoke about what might be the future of the broadband network today that message is one of tangible progress in putting the including award, delivery of the state plan.opted into we have a clear path forward toa the deployment of the entire network. i think public safety -- that's. why it's so important. serv we neverin lost focus of the gos of delivering the best possible network for the men and women possib who protect the communities, comm neighborhoods and families andnn put themselves in harms way without hesitation every single day. they accomplished a great deal the past couple of weeks andet past 12 months since i testifi testified. in the last year we continuedsi our outreach and consultation effortshave with our state partr holding more than 1200 events and meetings across all 56 states andnd1200 o territories,y completed the process including includ evaluating multiple competitive proposals and having them verify the process was open, transparent and competitive and we ultimately selected at&t as thee nationwide award. the delivered state plans june 9 to 50 ninth the 50 states, to territories and the district of columbia three months ahead of schedule and as mentioned at the schedule governors from the greatest states alreadyoned the opted in. none of this could be possible without the framework that congressublic private fr establ by leveraging resources,astructi infrastructure,ng savings and puic by synergies to deploy,th operate d been tamed the system it can now ci deployed.quiceffi after the competitive we have transparent procurement process. ctle at&t on behalf of public safetyt we are proud to have at&t.ject when we hit the ground running to deliver for public safety the first solution the firstirstnetr responders will receivee re specialized services are far and above what they have todayices r a first-class network dedicated to local communication needsicat using existing infrastructure it will be deployed rapid faster than anyone thought possible ano driven by the public safetyssib. d input they waited too long and fought too hard for this network and we must also recognize it's critical in the internet world. they continue to work with public safety to ensure it meets their need for the next. still o there are areas of authority improved and they are continuing to strive for the highest level offirstn excellence. status quo is not in our vocabulary vocabulary.ey as a part of the commit and toon engage with the unrecognized tribes, they adopted afirstnet constitution policy ad to ensure arrogancy responders act once we have the governors. to th i also want to thank the nation whose ended in kids today and ty their support.ultimaly the m the most important action the president must take is to continue to work with first responders and always listen to safety. heard me say you've heard me say that this is their network. we've been entrusted to deliver puat they need in order to keepy us safe. what it's this belief that drives us and we will ensure to accomplish with public safety deserveslleny excellence in service, reliability performance. thank you again for your support and i look forward to answering. questions. >> thank you very much.ng let me begin by asking, mr. goldstein says the gao wasd released today. did either of you get a sneake t preview? >> it's been a great part partner we worked with them hand-in-hand as they werend as e developing the report and recommendation. >> have you seen a draft copy them? you responded to some of the items items that mr. goldstein o is there any other response you would like to put on the record inuld like this hearing?report? >> they identified two areas we o mr. gol focus on. we would address that quickly. we continue to try to improve the position with our tribal consultation we adopted policies with our public safety advisoryy committee we've established aeda tribal working group which is 1i members from 15 different tribes and we continuously out of reach with the states and tribes intht the states to continue to communications i betbear for t. you got a sneak peek. it was right around 60% between at&t and first met throughout the country there was over 400 occasions in situations where wa could invite thesions tribal ens the visits and meetings will the year.hrough possib >> so as much for their desires and concerns. you mentioned that the sender testimony on the first met infrastructure to be heartenedre can you discuss why that'siscusd important, and is it more important in the rural areas. you remember it took out ao we d hospital in the a tor northwestr northeast part of the state and. the medical center's got a pretty robust program to respond to that. pay thehallenge the challenge is it took out a couple of commercial towers but it'd take out one of the communication towers. what i did for us as we lost all ability to communicate data out ofity to the area which was vit. from the perspective we can do a lot more as the team is showing in mississippi and other states before they get close to the hospital if we could reach outoa itsp and in the middle of the mississippi delta we can. we c dramatically increase the chancesanease the of survival. currently we are going on the radio and it is working really well but now imagine that urbaneas. areas is vital in the medical world but here we are five minutes fromld but here multip. take that as a 45 or 50 minutes in what we can do with broadband data d in that time is truly lig life-saving.r round later >> i will take another roundet . later on and what you respond to that. atat this point, he's yielded this time.i will b >> i will be merciful and insert the opening statement into the record anding statement in justo delighted to be working with senatorde klobuchar on updating and being stuck in the analog thank yo thank you, senatoru for your graciousness and courtesy. if youu can explain to thetail w committee by at&t's bid offered the at&t's best value on public i'mth very pleased they finally entered into this long-term contract and that this idea of interoperability as daredevil bus as the senator knows on the armed services committee and the is a nation's military as well. they are finally getting the interoperability of the radios,d but explain a little more about why your bid offered the best value. >> the process they undertook it to understand what the public safety needs are and how they cann maximize their network technology through that processh over the years we are ableat pro develop an rfp with 16 objectives of both states and public safety felt was important and we put that in a formal at into proposala process.petitive we didn't go out looking for at&t or another vendor we went looking for someone who could maximize the value of public safety and also provide theafetn financial sustainability that'sd required or this to be successful for years to come.thh speaking .. kids that we ran lighting. >> mr. sambar anything else that this offers to state and local first responders at that than him saying that that's why they picked you? >> yes senator there is one specific benefit that i would point to that few wireless companies were companies the world could offer which we offered after discussions with firstnet. the initial rf be that firstnet release contemplated building out a broadband network using bandwidth 14 and we responded accordingly that through discussion we decided we would extend it beyond the spectrum allocated for first responders in 2012. we said we would open up all the spectrum of bands are at&t so that means is the data they have immediate access to at&t's network and they will see the benefits firstnet on all wireless towers from at&t so i think that's a tremendous benefit that firstnet was not expecting. >> you will have a level playing phil level playing the overall device manufactures. >> absolutely serve. >> deputy secretary brown, virginia became the first state to announce that it would often to the public safety wireless broadband network. there must have been some folks in virginia that suggested that you opt out of the network and charge your own path. tell me the benefits to virginia's first responders of the governor's decision to opt in? at thank you senator. the decision was related based on looking at the benefits that come with an opt in, the media priority and preemption services for those who are subscribers to the network and the major things senators to back that comes at no cost to the commonwealth. we have been disproportionately impacted by sequestration and other aspects to the governor had to close at 300 million-dollar price tag this is a looking at the cost it would take to build a network and sustain it, this was not feasible. the benefits were clear in terms of preemption deployable assets being offered and the fact that our public safety stakeholders would guide the network. we look forward to again ensuring the rural buildup is there and the services and capabilities come out with the network. we looked at it closely but given some of the unique features of virginia including the fact that we will be and not grading a new governor within six months we thought it would be best begin building the network with firstnet at&t versus beginning this massive multibillion dollar project opting out and taking on all the risk and responsibility relate to that. >> thank you mr. brown and thank you mr. chairman. >> thinking mr. nelson. >> senator hassan. >> thank you chairman wicker and ranking member shots. thank you to all the witnesses for being here today in a special thanks to our public safety community. as a former governor i am keenly aware that states are in a position to be critical position and a state like mine which has unique terrain in rural areas that don't have a lot of access so i think the legislation that authorized firstnet got it right when they left the decision of opt in or opt out to her nation's governors. now the national firstnet vendor has chosen carefully weighing their options and i've heard from constituents in my state that one challenge they're facing in gathering as much information as possible before making the decision is that they are facing challenges when it comes to comparing the national plan with state plans that are being proposed as alternatives. the challenge includes issues such as having to acknowledge the terms of agreement that do not permit them to share information and plans with key people in their state so literally we may not be able to share information with the staff of the gunner which makes it incredibly difficult to make an informed decision. my question to mr. poth and mr. sambar is how do we stay informed and make this critically informed decision without having to compare and contrast the state plans with the nation's plants? >> the terms of use in the data we have provided to all 56 states and territories the detailed information some of which is confidential and as you can imagine since this is a mission-critical public safety network we have to be very protective. i certainly can tell you and assure you that all state officials that need access should be getting access to that. we do have to be careful and will limit access to inventors or consultants that want access to that data so these are the restrictions that we are trying to be very careful with because of the nature of this project in the program. it's absolutely our commitment and our intent that the states of the most information possible so the government can make the most informed decision. >> mr. sambar anything to add? >> yes senator. we initially envision we launched in june 19 that we would have roughly fit the user i.d.s and passwords. it would be 15 officials i would ask is appropriately mutilate that feedback states wanted more of an we are offering more so we have to stay right as a matter of fact 227 login have been issued. the only requirements we have senator as mr. poth said an official e-mail address or an authorized consultant. either of those are fine. >> i will make sure that i take that information back to my state and make sure they get that cleared up. the other thing i wanted to explore with both of you and we talk a little bit about it mr. poth when you met with me in my office which i appreciate it very much our greatest challenge for commercial connectivity and public safety connectivity is her sparsely populated area and we have had critical murder investigations very challenging natural disasters like ice storms and they are particularly challenging as they are for many of our states in remote areas. we have heard from vendors who want to serve as an alternative to the national plan and heard from sub nine and at&t the rural coverage will be a priority but no matter who they choose as their vendor we need more than an informal insurance when it comes to the journal of ours first responders across the state have interoperable access so with a state like new hampshire which has major gaps in public safety committee qishan as well as commercial voice and wireless in some rural areas how a will firstnet ensured that these first responders in these areas will not get left behind and what kind of accountability measures are there. let's say three years and now we are stomach getting the cover to an access we need. how do the states holding accountable for that? >> the state plans that everyone is currently reviewing is what at&t and firstnet commitment to that state will be if they opt in so when the state does off then that becomes our commitment and we contractually will hold at&t's responsible and accountable to execute to that plan that the state has agreed to so that's the first part and a big component of those plans as you mentioned is the rural coverage whether it's with terrestrial sites or the use of deployable somehow bozza be accomplished and that's why it's critical the states are doing this review right now so they have a full appreciation of how that could work in the state. so once they have made that decision then we will contractually with the master contract that we have with at&t we will use that as a roadmap and over the years not just the first five years but the next 25 years to service level agreements and metrics we will be holding at&t responsible and accountable to execute to that plant. >> and mr. sambar anything to add? >> center i've heard loud and clear as i visited states especially new hampshire, i've been there three times myself and met with the governor twice. we visit there almost every week their rural coverage is a concern. we are part of both a program to build out across america. as mr. poth said there will be areas that will be uncovered in any network in the world but we do have solutions for that and the main solution is deployable in northern msha for example if the ability to deploy a network is very important to today in the west in california there are wildfires burning in we had to deployable right now. at the picture one of them. it's a large global network. we will be building out 70 to those from the countryside will have quick access to deployable spike calling at&t and sub nine. any state will be able to cover those areas. >> i've gone well past my time. thank you for him your indulgence. >> senator hassan or question is how can the states hold firstnet and at&t to account and is it your position gentleman that the adherents to the state plan amounts to a legally-binding contract? is this your question? >> a legally-binding contract and what the recourse is. >> if you don't mind senator klobuchar before i recognize you can we drill down on that? >> i think there's an important clarification. it will be a legally-binding contract between firstnet and at&t to execute to that plan. it will not be a contract per se with the state. to come into the state. how the state holds us accountable as firstnet shifts gears from developing a proposal for the next 25 years we are going to be in a position to work with the state and public safety and although states to make sure all of their expectations both in the state plan and in the future are being met and translated appropriately back into contractual actionable items or if at&t is not meeting the requirements for the expectations firstnet on behalf of public safety in those states will enforce the terms of the contract. >> thank you very much presenter klobuchar. >> thank you very much and they give the panel. i very much enjoyed working with senator burr and recently working with senator nelson on our bill. they just want to follow up on the questions that the chairman and the senator have. i'm very concerned about rural areas creag minnesota has large eggs vantine of rural areas. one day in minnesota northern minnesota registered colder than mars. this is a true story. the range rover was a warm part of mars and we were colder than mars. i subscribe to the fact that we have unique needs and our sacred first of all starting with one of our unique needs and ask you mr. poth if there's any update on the court nation with canada as we share a large order with canada and minnesota. >> there's a lot of good news. canada is using the same exact spectrum than we will be utilizing with at&t so there's a lot of synergies. we have spent a great deal of time coordinating and comparing notes with canada and the public safety entities in that country as to what we are doing so there is the interoperability between the countries will also be realized. >> very good in this cam direct the from our team. i know you've been working directly with the public safety officials to tailor these unique state plans and as i mentioned we face unique public safety concerns some of them shared by senator hassan in the middle of winter and losing -- running out of gas and not being able to call. states have up to his understand of 45 days to review the plans and then ask questions. i know process is an important part of ensuring that the network that eventually addresses the public safety needs of each state so mr. poth what is firstnet seeking timely answers to their questions? >> we are making sure through this 40 by the perry that they understand what we present and then hundreds of common throughout the country and the state to get verification or to get a greater appreciation. we are responding that to those as quickly as possible in real time. what our intent is that the states will have the time to provide their initial comments and observations and if we have not responded by that point we certainly will be doing back to finalize many the plans that we are planning to deliver in september. .. the defendant peace hopes public safety answering points and first responders in the field folks that were calling him. for the private citizen calling him to be good to pass pictures, videos to the center and immediately pass up to the first respond was. to pass the data out on a dedicated network for the first responders to ensure seamless information so that they've made this tremendous opportunity to work together. the technology as we know comes new risk so what is at&t doing to protect and defend the cyber attacks of the network? >> we have the contractual obligation and have taken a lot of steps in the future so there will be specific devices that need to be certified by at&t it goes to the core network for all of the data rides and we are building a separate core for the first responders data. we have a security operation center we are building for this network. we are building one just for first responders and identity access management as was mentioned earlier we are taking steps to ensure we get the right people on so we are taking a number of steps we have gone through to ensure the network is secure. >> the question i asked about the question and answer in the important for the state team of getting the answers. we have a collaborative group of executive committee reviewing the state plan and we are right now in the final stages of planning out different regional congresses across the commonwealth. >> i said we would get back to the hardening issues and senator klobuchar has touched on one aspect he mentioned the tornado in louisville mississippi and how fortunate and foresighted leaders were making the towers hardened. it is a considered public safe safety. there's a specific definition for the safety grade but at&t conserves the towers to meet state and federal withstanding such as wind and earthquakes etc. we've gone to great lengths to construct the network as reliable as possible. congress will get knocked down as a function of mother nature. the solution in the first match world is the deployable's death will have a response time to come to that area and provide network communications. we can get to an area as quickly as possible and put up a network where there is one. the key is -- >> maybe we need to define it. >> we are working with at&t and all the sites in the dub him a. it's your site in mississippi more critical than the one in nebraska, absolutely not. so, at&t with their existing infrastructure sites will exist. meeting not only the state and federal rules when we make sure they are hard but the public safety part in the definition is anything we are applying. the network and service arrangements will leverage innovative products and applications and the marketplace that can improve public safety and emergency services. >> as mentioned by others in the testimony one of the things we are most proud of at first as we develop our own lab in boulder and one of the focuses its innovation and technology and working with our sister organization. you may recall in the statute as $300 million set aside for public research and innovation and trust a couple months ago they rewarded the first $38 million in grants to universities and companies to continue to push public safety innovation and technology. in our expectation for years to come, it will be advocating for the benefit of public safety. >> senator marquee is next. >> very important hearing and one of the key issues is the ability of the first responder in instrumental ingredients for the rescue efforts of the coordination to be able to ensure the urban area numbing the first responders latitude coordinates so that a more precise identification can be made. and we need to know there is a battalion of firefighters battling a place and know that treating patients on the lowest floor. they are potentially life-saving and we must ensure they are the hands of the first responders as soon as possible. with the technology groups that we don't have peace and tranquility on them. >> there are solutions and we understand how important it is to public safety and smoke inhalation is vitally important that we provide that. it is a contractual requirement and we will absolutely develop that. the concerns we have at the time is the maturity of the technology and ensuring that technology works at a time when they should. when the power goes out in a building if they are pressure differences created how do we account for pressure differenc differences? we want to make sure all of that is done perfectly so working with the authority we want to make sure we bring that to market when it ready and as quickly as possible. >> are you happy with what is being made and that it's going to take for you to reach an agreement to ensure that the services are available? >> we do have an agreement, so by 2020 the solutions should be available. the preliminary technology is not in a position to be deployed. >> that's the target that we set in the contract and there is technology today but we don't believe it is as robust to be put out in the field. >> if it moves up quicker we are going to advocate and work with at&t to accelerate that. i'm comfortable and confident that they will be able to make that. >> it is a 20% concept and execution so -- >> this one is the third leg. so that's what we want to do to walk over to those people. there's usually a good way of getting things if the key thing is pulled out and all of a sudden the attention is paid to it so i appreciate you doing that. can the states and mass apologies have networks and devices how well this work with utilizing existing communications resources to build out and deploy a national public safety broadband work and you commit to decreasing the transition costs to the greatest extent possible. >> absolutely. we've had a number of states and federal agencies and we've been in communication in the state and a sitting municipal assets that would give them the benefit of being able to develop the network faster. so we are active with a number of states and entities to see what we can do to increase the buildout so that is the benefit of this public-private partnership that we are in. >> do you want to add anything? >> synchronicity. >> we are not in a honeymoon period. it's a significant partnership and endeavor but we are going to make sure that at&t meets all of the requirements. >> i understand that. it's just a couple weeks ago useful than talking in anticipation of the hearing. all of these things will be close into the accounts. it's a great song. who wrote that? i got the beats but i don't know if i have the spelling. >> a question for the record. >> it is subject to question. >> the senator from new jersey i'm competitive with everyone else. >> senator inhofe is recognized. >> first of all so you will be aware we always have the committees sharing so we were not able to get here for the first entire hour but one of them you've answered at least twice already in this hearing so bear with me because i have some interest and by the way before he leaves, i might observe that he and i don't always see eye to eye on issues, but we have one thing in common. we will be calling you to ensure that it's on time. to me it is very difficult. you are dealing with states, communities, counties that are totally different. we are a rural state and that would pose a lot more problems because when senator marquee was talking about the first bill and another these are all scattered with different capabilities to coordinate so i was kind of like to talk with both of you about the unique problems that you have that icy, but i do understand my state of oklahoma is in the state and would be much more difficult i would think to coordinate. what are your thoughts? >> i would say at the very core of the states are looking for whether it is a state that has the urban populations or spread out in the rural populations they are looking for broadband coverage that is reliable and gives access to first responders, so at the core of what we need to provide when we have discussions in oklahoma versus manhattan we hear virtually the same thing we need coverage where they operate which is everywhere. >> there is no coverage. they create a cell phone connection for first responders where they would have priority access to the doctor saying earlier in situatio a situationn example of where broadband towers had been knocked down is a perfect example of where we can bring this. >> how many of these do you have? >> anything to add to that? >> rural coverage has been a problem forever, even in the land mobile radio, walkie-talkies, it is always very challenging as you point out. now, congress in particular had the foresight to also make sure rural coverage is a critical component of the first solution going forward, and that is one of the things we are very focused on to try to improve that it is going to take years to get to the point in every phase of the buildout is going to be interesting to start chipping away but whether it is the land mobile radio is very challenging and we hope this is the first step to solve all of that. >> being the independent authority in congress when you first embarked on this, did you look for other examples of things that have worked. it's how they work effectively with the private sector. the model that we pursued we went out to the private sector and said what is the approach to solve some of those problems is an independent authority and the government we have been very effective and looked at other models as to what is working. but the department of commerce, the fcc, all of those other components that are critical to this approach has been very supportive and it's worked for us and that's why i think we are glad today to be reporting we are three months ahead of schedule from what the original intent was and we do have a contract award that is providing the needs to public safety and it's financially sustainable. this independent authority isn't going to come back and ask for additional funds and i think that is a significant plan congress had envisioned when they start this authority up. each state represented in this table here probably believes it has more disasters than any other in our state of oklahoma as you know it is a commonplace, tornadoes and a horrible fire took place just two months ago. it is such a diverse array of problems. i'm glad you are ahead of schedule and i will look forward to monitoring your success. >> where there isn't buildup or buildout, to what extent are the deployable was going to do the trick? >> i will speak first from the medical perspective the great disaster recovery we have some with our own network currently. to their point it cannot be 100%. the challenge for us as operators is to know where the coverage is. a lot of technology has been talked about but there is a missing piece and that is how to operate within a stew technology and that is a piece that is as challenging as the discussions here all do we develop the medical protocols to balance what the paramedics, physicians, whoever can communicate using the network so to me i would love to have the connectivity but it's the ability to know where it is. we need to know where it is and how to get it and more importantly how to use the technology that's there. >> deep labels can be helpful in emergency situations but the nature of the situation as you may not be able to get it close enough so that can be a problem at times. more broadly speaking there are specific milestones in the contract at&t must meet with in respect to the buildout areas in the next 25 years and a person that is going to have to find a way to ensure the accountability of the buildout overtime. >> milestones with regards to -- >> the amount it has to occur in the contract. >> there may be some difficulties with respect to this if you have for instance tribes that span multiple states and some states opt in and some states often out, that may have some confusing components to how that might work. >> anything to add to that? >> our priority is focused on working with our communities first at at&t to build out the network but to the extent we cannot get full coverage in those areas, the access would definitely be useful in terms of the emergency response as long as we can get guarantees and how quickly they will get their and make sure they are there in time to initiate a response. some of our devastating natural disasters have been in the rural areas. flash flooding etc.. so this is a major. >> i appreciate you indulging the chair, take an extra minute or two if you made. >> i'm going to try to take less than my five minutes to bring balance to the universe. first of all, thank you for your hard work. i was stunned when we faced environmental challenges have inadequate or communications were. we had an earthquake in new jersey and i was just astonished about how my community was acting but our communications felt they failed and it was unacceptable. i am proud of my state using the spectrum for sort of exciting safety broadband projects overseen he is an expert in communications. the project is spread throughout the state and includes a between camden and lake city. it's a case of emergency like i discussed when the communications go down. i think the project could be modeled for the country and contribute to how we keep the networks moving and running in the crisis. it will help keep emergency personnel connected such as critical as we all know. but additionally, as we were discussing they can be used to aid other states in the country when they are needed. we are hopeful about the project as it has been discussed and so we know that the mobile units were deployed from new jersey and during the pope's visit last september the pope was visiting and so i just want to know what is learned from new jersey project and how do they envision the assets as it was discussed in the future and that is my only question. >> you've highlighted one of the things we are excited about because the state of new jersey did forge a lot of new territory and we got great key learning conditions and while we don't believe they are a permanent solution for the coverage it is absolutely a viable solution thanks to overwork your state did because you exercise of those extensively. you mentioned all these other events and i distinctly remember a anywhere whether it is rough terrain you are able to stand up a network in that area and it gave us a lot more confidence that as we consider solutions and alternatives during the process it was a vibrant solution sets to provide coverage in those areas that might not exist so there was great success from what new jersey was able to do. as you mentioned they helped the philadelphia police department with the visit. harris county texas was using that concept during the super bowl so there were a lot of key learnings that we are now using in the nationwide solution set. at&t has already been giving this with their fleet of 700 d. deep labels which will give the ability to maybe get those into areas that are little tougher to get to. we are excited about that. it is an absolute addition to the solution that we are going to be able to bring to public safety quickly. >> i think you said mississippi could learn a lot from new jersey and i think that is the essence of the message. thank you mr. chairman. >> and vice versa. >> i know the senator is on his way back, but i do have a couple of extra questions. on the class 14 spectrum, the 20 megahertz spectrum provided to create nationwide public safety wireless broadband i think the testimony is that the existing commercial network may be used instead. could you clarify to what extent we will have that? >> to what extent he will have the existing network is that the question? >> yes sir. >> we will be building up over the coming five years across a significant portion of the network. in the meantime before it is built out we will be using our commercial network. there are requirements over how quickly we need to buildout and we have to get those milestones to get the payment. if we do not have the milestones we don't receive the payment so we won't be aggressively building out for the first responders and again in the meantime, they will have access to all of us fans so simply if you are a first responder, senator, you will not know whether you were on class 14 or any other but you will have the exact same experience regardless of what standard you are on. >> if the surface is provided and the consumer in the public safety to them it would be immaterial where it's coming from. >> the way i say it is public safety has been told for many years that the magic happens on class 14 and we've changed that. that's not correct anymore. the magic happens on the network period and it doesn't matter where you are you will have the same experience comes we've extended the onto the class 14 network. >> will you build out the class 14 spectrum of only where it is economically viable or where it is a rigid requirement in the arrangement between you and first met? >> we are building 14 where we need the capacity and the networks to provid so to provide priority into preemptive services to first responders and have enough capacity for everyone on the network including the first responders there are places we need additional capacity. >> based on capacity obviously we've been doing this a long time that we see in the network we buildout as additional capacity on individual and this is done on a tower by tower basis. >> are you able to say what approximate percentage will be covered by the band class 14? >> unfortunately, i'm not. that's proprietary between at&t and i would say against a significant portion. >> can you be more specific than significant? >> that would be proprietary, senator, i apologize. >> what makes it proprietary? >> the specific deals of the contract. there's a number of specific details that are proprietary. >> that is proprietary and not available to the public? >> that's correct. >> and so there would be no availability of coverage percentages for each state? >> in that case, every state can see exactly where the buildout is happening and there are multiple layers they have to choose from. a vacancy two g., three g., and a vacancy the buildout by years of individual states can see what the buildout in their state is. is that the question you're asking? he can't see what is happening in their state, they know exactly where it's going to be the next five years and where the 14 builders happening in their state. >> and i wonder though, then in terms of this coverage that you said really shouldn't matter what band it's coming over, are you able to say what percentage of the lower 48 landmass will be covered like one way or the other? apart of course from the deep labels. >> 99.6% of the population will be covered by at&t's network. >> the landmass. >> i don't have a percentage of landmass. >> would you be able to -- >> i can get a percentage absolutely. >> thank you mr. chairman. the goal with this national state-of-the-art first responders that were corrected as is the need to have a national approach to addressing emergencies not just the continental united states that means all 50 states and territories. i know you've done several consultations with general logan and the team so i just want to ask a simple question. what have you found that is different about hawaii? >> there's a lot of great things that are different about hawaii. one of the things is the number of islands and how we cover that quickly and appropriately as you mentioned. we've been working with general logan for several years and he's a big advocate. we think we have an appreciation of the challenges and opportunities for why he has and that's why it is critical with the plan that they are currently reviewing that they provide the feedback to us to make sure that we've captured and that the state is very comfortable in our approach. >> that is a good answer in adequate answer but let me give you a couple things i want you to take back and make sure it is all covered in your discussions with our team in hawaii. >> one of the big differences as they wanisthey want coverage ovn addition to the land. that is a technical matter that you've got to address. the second issue an into this my seem small, but it's not. to the extent that you are doing something truly nationwide, you have to think about this sort of business operation of giving conference calls and the fact that there is a six-hour time difference so when you do a conference call there is not just an inconvenience, but let me say this way it demonstrates an east coast culture. and that is not trivial to us. we will do if we get up at 2:00 into the conference calls. but to understand this as a nationwide network and that each state is different is also to understand we all live in different parts of the planet and i would just ask you to try to accommodate that. i understand we are at the middle of the time zones but there could be some accommodation i'm quite sure a lot of the team in hawaii and their families would appreciate if you could make an accommodation that way. i know that there've been a lot of questions about covering rural areas, and i won't go over that again except to ask you to reconnect or reaffirm your commitment to making rural coverage a priority and that includes some pretty interesting topography in hawaii and the recognition that we are not separated by an ocean, we are connected by an ocean. >> absolutely, you have our commitment that is an important focus and i appreciate that fair criticism and we will certainly adjust that to make sure we are making sure our communications with all 56 states and territories are a little more accommodating. >> thank you. >> i agree with what he said. url or customer, not the other way around, so we should be accommodating you. one unique example i will give is deep labels and rural coverage. a state in the middle of the united states if you put a deployable in the united states you might have a two or three hour drive time but in hawaii it's different. you can't necessarily put one on a boat and go to the next island quickly so we understand we will be putting multiple. we are dealing with a team to determine that number but we understand we need multiple deep labels to meet the needs of hawaii specifically. >> thank you. this is a technical question so i don't even know necessarily this is a challenge, but how does at&t intend to build the network so that hawaii does not depend on continental united states infrastructure to keep the network operational? in other words if there's a problem on the mainland in the middle of a natural disaster in the pacific, are we still required to balance the server in tucson or ho how to does tha? >> unfamiliar with the issue. you are referring to the network that reified subcontinental u.s. so hawaii's traffic does traverse the ocean. your team has brought this up as an issue and we recognize it as an issue and we are working to find what the solution is going to be, whether it is deployable as i mentioned earlier, or whether it is putting a full corquarter note in hawaii or whether it is some type of a temporary note in hawaii or that can be used in a time of crisis, so we are working with our teams to make sure they are satisfied with the solution we provide. >> is that expensive or -- >> there is a spectrum so that deployable czar on one side and provide a full-blown court on the other side is expensive and there is a middle ground i think both parties are close to coming to agreement on and it will be a factor for both parties. >> what about cybersecurity. it seems to me that if there were a cyber attack on the critical infrastructure side that they would be looking for in aperture to shut down this network. how worried are you about that and it is your cybersecurity plan for at&t sort of the -- let me say another way is to first make cybersecurity plan a subset of what happens or is there a separate enterprise that deals with the possibility of an attack? >> i appreciate the question. first, the contractual obligation we have is to treat this network differently than we treat our regular networks so we will be building a couple of things that differentiate. first of all, the devices themselves need to be screened and ensure they are secure for first responders in the second the applications on the devices. first responders won't go to the regular stores we all go to to get their applications. they will go to a specific application so they will be vetted for security and functionality. next, the network itself i referred to earlier as the core network that is the traffic resides on the core network all of the first responder network will be on a separate window will cost hundreds of millions to build that completely separate and right now we have one that operates in your building a completely separate one with encryption and that's not typically how wireless networks are built so that will get enhanced security to public safety than the last piece i would mention is the security operations center. at&t currently operates multiple security operations centers around the world. we are building a security operations center specific for this core in this traffic to ensure it is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week 365, 35 days a year so there will be security professionals just looking at first responder traffic on the first responder network. so, we are going to great lengths to ensure this network is as secure as possible, because as you say, this could be a target for an attack and we want to make sure that doesn't happen. >> do you have anything to add? >> as he mentioned with the robust nature of what they are doing, also at first met with our cybersecurity experts we are also drawing from experts at dhs and the doj we are making sure we are going to do periodic inspections and audits to make sure that it's meeting all the needs, because this is a very high-profile network and is highly susceptible for people wanting to try to attack it. >> volunteer emergency service providers i'm told they will want to migrate their personal devices onto the public safety network. how is at&t going to address this? >> as we understand based on the research the vast majority of firefighters for example are not issued devices for their daily use at work especially volunteer firefighters that is greater than 70% of. whether you provide your own personal device, they will have access to the first network and once we can verify the credentials to make sure we have the right people on the network they will have access to all the features and benefits and it will come at a lower price than they are paying today for their personal or commercial service. so, it is a tremendous benefit to all first responders. >> on the user fees will they cost the same for all network users or will they vary by region and public safety agencies were state's? >> it's a difficult answer because there are different cases. so it depends if you are a large department and the want of limited data and you have a number of applications you want installed on the device and u.s. mobile management software, that would be one case. there may be a department that wants to connect the cameras and dashboard video cameras. it may depend on the case so so if they are not regions and states. >> that's correct. >> thank you very much. clearly this is a massive undertaking and there is much interest that you've been good to answer on questions. the hearing record will remain open for two weeks during the time senators are asked to submit questions for the record. upon receipt and the witnesses agree that they will submit their written answers within three weeks of receiving them, can we agree to that? made the record reflects all five witnesses agreed to do that. we do appreciate it very much. the hearing is now concluded with the thanks of the members of the subcommittee. >> [inaudible conversations]

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