The federal authorization for the First Responder Network Authority, known as FirstNet, is set to expire in 2027, and former New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly and leading public-safety groups are urging Congress to reauthorize the program to avoid jeopardizing a dedicated communications network for firefighters, police and emergency medical personnel.
In an opinion piece published Sept. 8 in the New York Post, Kelly said the network — created after communication failures on Sept. 11, 2001 — must be preserved. He warned that without congressional action the system that gives first responders priority access and preemption on a dedicated spectrum could be imperiled. The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced a subcommittee hearing on the issue for Tuesday.
Kelly recounted the coordination breakdowns on 9/11 — including jammed phone lines and the need for some responders to pass notes at Ground Zero and the Pentagon — and cited a National Institute of Standards and Technology finding that communications failures contributed to the deaths of 343 firefighters who could not evacuate the World Trade Center. He said those failures helped drive congressional action that ultimately produced FirstNet.
FirstNet became operational in 2017 during the first Trump administration. The authority established a nationwide wireless broadband network built specifically for public-safety use and operates on spectrum set aside for first responders. Kelly wrote that the system provides priority and preemption so that calls and data from responders are processed ahead of commercial traffic during crises.
The network serves more than 30,000 public-safety agencies and departments, according to the description in Kelly's piece. Under the public-private model, AT&T secured the contract to build and operate the network and, Kelly wrote, will return roughly $18 billion over the life of the contract to support and expand the system. He added that the arrangement required no direct taxpayer funding.
Kelly and other supporters have pointed to recent incidents in which FirstNet provided continuity for responders. Kelly noted that the network helped maintain connections during flash floods in Texas’ Hill Country over the July Fourth weekend and that it continues to support recovery operations in the region.
Major national organizations representing police and fire personnel have publicly backed reauthorization. Those groups include the National Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. In his column, Kelly framed reauthorization as a bipartisan, public-safety priority that would honor the lessons of 9/11 and sustain communications that can be critical during hurricanes, wildfires, mass shootings and terrorist attacks.
Critics of the existing model have occasionally raised concerns about cost, governance and the terms of public-private contracts, but Kelly and allied organizations characterize those issues as resolvable within the reauthorization process. Congressional action this year would extend the authority’s statutory mandate and clarify the program’s long-term governance and oversight.
Lawmakers on the Energy and Commerce Committee will have an early opportunity to hear testimony at the scheduled subcommittee hearing. Supporters of reauthorization say the briefing will allow members to assess technical, budgetary and operational elements of the network before any legislation is drafted. Kelly closed his opinion piece by urging Congress and the White House to act, saying reauthorization would provide first responders with the tools to avoid repeating the communications failures of 2001.
The debate over FirstNet’s future adds to a broader congressional agenda on homeland security and emergency preparedness. Any reauthorization measure would need to move through committee and both chambers of Congress before the statutory authority expires in 2027 to provide continuity for the network and the agencies that rely on it.