What do victims of disaster, crooks fleeing capture, and burning buildings have in common? If you replied, “FirstNet,” you already know how big a shake up this federal initiative is about to cause.

The lives of responders—like cops, firefighters, paramedics—is about to change…dramatically. That’s because a nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) is coming…quickly. There is still time, however, to have an impact on this government program that will impact all tribes. The First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet, is a first-of-its-kind cellular data network, with an expansive and inclusive stakeholder outreach program designed to create opportunities for public safety to provide input and feedback on the network. Public safety stakeholders have until Wednesday, 30 September 2015 to weigh in on key buildout-related issues affecting all of us, such as crime statistics, locations where responders are dispatched, and current communications devices used.

As a sworn officer of my tribe, the Blackfeet Indian Nation, and its director of homeland security, as well as a delegate from the Northwest Tribal Emergency Management Council (NWTEMC) to the FirstNet Tribal Working Group (TWG). I am writing to share with you the groundbreaking partnership that FirstNet is undertaking with private industry to deploy the NPSBN. The NPSBN will be a wireless carrier network built exclusively for public safety personnel, aided by $7 billion of start-up capital and 20 megahertz of dedicated bandwidth. (Equivalent to the capacity commercial carrier’s currently access to serve all their subscribers across the country!) The eyes of the world are upon us.