T-Mobile Wants Even More Oversight for FirstNet Authority
The House passed a reauthorization bill that would give NTIA more authority over the agency.
WASHINGTON, April 30, 2026 – T-Mobile is asking lawmakers to increase Commerce Department oversight of, and ensure no additional spectrum or federal cash goes to, the nationwide first responder network operated by AT&T.
The network is managed by the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet Authority, which will expire in February 2027 unless Congress reauthorizes it. The House passed a bill that would do so earlier this month, led by Reps. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., and Neal Dunn, R-Fla.
The House bill would increase the Commerce Department’s oversight over FirstNet Authority, requiring Commerce clearance before the FNA board could take certain actions, but wouldn’t make changes to AT&T’s contract.
Congress should “ensure that no additional subsidies are provided to support commercial operations,” T-Mobile wrote in an email to Capitol Hill staffers last week. “Billions of dollars in federal support and exclusive access to spectrum (used in tandem for commercial network operations) have already been granted under the claimed justification of supporting FirstNet services.”
The carrier also wanted Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration to have more “direct and explicit authority over FNA,” so NTIA could “ensure full transparency, robust accountability, and real competition to deliver the world-class communications our first responders deserve.”
AT&T received $6.5 billion in federal funding, proceeds from previous spectrum auctions, to build out the network, called FirstNet, which finished in 2024. AT&T is supposed to pay the FirstNet Authority a total of $18 billion over the course of the 25-year contract. Much of that money will then be invested back into FirstNet.
In a move that began under the Biden administration, the Federal Communications Commission is looking to open up more spectrum to FirstNet. A coalition including Verizon and T-Mobile sued to block the move; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has yet to rule after hearing arguments in November.
T-Mobile also offers its own competing public safety plan, T-Priority, and Verizon has its Verizon Frontline service.
The carrier said in its email that “offerings such as T-Mobile’s T-Priority are shut out under the current FNA arrangement. Congress should ensure that a reauthorized FNA is well aligned with current and future public-safety communications needs in a competitive marketplace.”
Corey Davis, head of Verizon Frontline, made a similar argument to senators in a January hearing on FirstNet reauthorization.
“If FirstNet Authority funds a tower,” he said, “all public safety providers should be able to take advantage of that tower, not just one commercial carrier.”
Asked about the issue at a separate House hearing, Scott Agnew, AT&T’s president of FirstNet and public sector mobility, said, “It’s important that it’s a single network, that it’s secure, that it’s interoperable, and it’s held accountable for first responders.” He said “reinvestment dollars are going to go into rural coverage, so we don’t recommend diverting any of those funds that would take away from rural sites.”
AT&T has supported the House-passed legislation and urged the Senate to take up the bill as soon as possible. New Street Research policy advisor Blair Levin said in a February investor note a draft similar to the current text was “generally favorable” for AT&T, as it focused on changing the FNA’s governing structure rather than the underlying economics of the contract.
T-Mobile wanted lawmakers to go further and give NTIA “direct and explicit authority over FNA.” The carrier also said the FirstNet Authority’s name should be changed to avoid confusion, calling FirstNet “no more than a brand” of AT&T.
A T-Mobile spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. AT&T declined to comment.
Jeff Johnson, a retired fire chief, former FirstNet Authority Board member, and current spokesperson for the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance, said in a LinkedIn post he opposed the T-Mobile request. PSSA supported the FCC effort to open more spectrum to FirstNet.
“T-Mobile’s ask to Congress is brazen: Leverage the reauthorization process to grant NTIA direct control over FirstNet Authority – a government agency overseeing a competitor,” Johnson wrote.
The House touted many public safety groups that supported the reauthorization bill, some including the Fraternal Order of Police and Public Safety Broadband Technology Association, which houses PSSA, have strongly opposed more NTIA oversight. Lawmakers provided more NTIA authority in response to negative Commerce Inspector General reports on FirstNet Authority leadership.
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