WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., yesterday questioned Obama Administration officials regarding Mississippi’s ongoing issues with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and FirstNet on implementing a statewide public safety wireless broadband network.

Wicker’s comments were made during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the matter.

“Mississippi was one of the grantees under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), and the state moved forward very aggressively with greater speed than any other recipient,” Wicker said. “FirstNet maintains that it could not reach a spectrum lease agreement with the state of Mississippi. This is unfortunate because tens of millions of state and federal tax dollars had been spent, significant physical assets had been deployed, and the system was weeks away from going live. Mississippi would have provided an early demonstration of the great potential broadband holds for first responders.”

“How exactly is NTIA saving taxpayer money, especially when the agency is now telling Mississippi to spend money to tear down its LTE equipment already deployed?” Wicker asked Commerce Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews.

NTIA has justified the suspension of Mississippi’s grant as saving taxpayer money by avoiding “investments that might have to be replaced if they are incompatible with the ultimate nationwide architecture of the new public safety broadband network.”

“One of the fundamental conditions imposed on all 700 megahertz public safety broadband waivers is the commitment of the waiver recipients to design, develop, and deploy a network that is fully interoperable,” Wicker concluded. “Mississippi met these conditions. The agency’s argument does not hold water.”