Congressman August Pfluger of Texas’s 11th district emphasized the need for greater transparency, efficiency, and oversight in the reauthorization of FirstNet during a recent House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing. FirstNet is a critical communications network used by first responders and public safety officials during emergencies.
FirstNet was established following communication failures among agencies during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. At that time, incompatible systems prevented effective coordination between responders, and commercial networks became overloaded.
During the hearing, Rep. Pfluger questioned witnesses about improving FirstNet’s chain of command, its partnerships with emergency management coordinators, and plans to enhance connectivity by working with AST SpaceMobile in Midland, Texas. He highlighted the importance of space-based direct-to-device capabilities for first responders.
Witnesses included Sheriff Michael Adkinson, Acting Board Chair of the First Responder Network Authority; Scott Agnew, President of FirstNet and Public Safety Mobility at AT&T; and Michael Dame from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Rep. Pfluger asked Mr. Agnew about how local and state partners access the network: “So I’ll start with Mr. Agnew and thank you for being here. I want to talk about who’s on the network, assessing which local and state partners have access. And, if we wanted to know which folks in our area were currently accessing, how does that work? And what if we don’t have all the information? Then, what do we need to do, either via statute or some other means, to know that information?”
Mr. Agnew responded: “We appreciate that question, and we continue to work with first responders to allow us to communicate who’s on the network. We understand it’s so important, from a mutual aid perspective…Where there are restrictions for our ability to do that is through the FCC proprietary network information…but we are working collaboratively with the authority to make sure that will happen.”
Rep. Pfluger further asked whether statutory changes were needed: “Do you think that’s something in the reauthorization that we need to add to the statute provisions…a transparency piece of who’s on?”
Mr. Agnew replied: “I think, because both AT&T and the FirstNet authority are in agreement that this needs to be done, I don’t think it’s necessary to add it in…it’s something that we’re working on.”
The congressman also discussed connectivity improvements for rural areas such as Midland through partnerships with companies like AST SpaceMobile: “That’s fantastic. It’s another domain, especially in rural America…” Mr. Agnew noted public-private investments benefiting first responders: “The beauty of this public-private partnership is that when AT&T makes an investment…the investment actually is being made in AST and AT&T…We’re going to open at the end of this month…customer sign-ups for trials specific to public safety.”
Rep. Pfluger then addressed governance issues within FirstNet by asking Sheriff Adkinson about board recommendations’ binding nature over executive decisions: “My understanding is that …those are not necessarily binding…in practice this could mean that the CEO doesn’t necessarily have to…follow some of the recommendations.”
Sheriff Adkinson confirmed ambiguity existed due to how leadership roles were originally set up: “There was a multi-million dollar task order …not [with] current Executive Director…we said as the board…FirstNet should not have been signed. That was against the will of the board…it just didn’t work for us.”
August Pfluger has served as U.S. Representative for Texas’s 11th District since 2021 after replacing Mike Conaway and winning election in 2020. Born in Houston in 1978, he now resides in San Angelo.