While others seeking to build a nationwide public-safety broadband network for FirstNet remain silent, the one publicly confirmed bidder today announced that its legal name will be Rivada Mercury and identified several key partners on its offeror team.
Led by Rivada Networks, Rivada Mercury includes more than two dozen companies that will form a “first-rate” team that will be dedicated to the FirstNet project to build and maintain a nationwide public-safety broadband network in the United States, according to Rivada Networks CEO Declan Ganley. Some of the key Rivada Mercury partners unveiled today were: Harris, which has decades of public-safety and federal-government contracting experience; Ericsson and Nokia (which recently completed its purchase of Alcatel-Lucent), the two leading LTE-equipment providers that serve the U.S. market; Fujitsu Network Communications, a leading backhaul provider and logistics manager; Black & Veatch, one of the largest telecom construction firms in the U.S.; and Intel Security, which is tasked with developing and implementing the critical cybersecurity strategy for the proposed first-responder system.