Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report, that during a special board meeting today (Tuesday), the FirstNet Board unanimously approved Board Resolution 84 to finalize the contract award to build the National Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) across the United States.

Authorities say “For over four years, the State of Iowa has been involved in the FirstNet process by conducting outreach to all 99 counties, educating public safety on the FirstNet initiative, collecting data on Iowa’s public safety sector, and holding FirstNet Public Private Partnership Summits to provide the opportunity for public and private industry representatives to discuss the status of the FirstNet process and what it means for Iowa.”

Iowa’s State Point of Contact (SPOC) Thomas Lampe, Chairman of the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System Board (ISICSB), will now work closely with the Governor’s office and public safety officials on the State Plan for the buildout of the network in Iowa.

FirstNet says it’s mission is to “Deliver a nationwide broadband network dedicated to public safety to help strengthen their emergency communications abilities, making them safer and more effective on the job. A new, innovative public-private partnership will be established to deploy the National Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN).

The NPSBN delivered by FirstNet will provide law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency service personnel a reliable, redundant, resilient, and secure connection to carry high-speed data, location information, images, and video.”