FirstNet Authority Did Not Have Reliable Cost Estimates to Ensure It Awarded Two Reinvestment Task Orders at Fair and Reasonable Prices

For our final report on the audit of First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet Authority’s) process for developing Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs) for its first two reinvestment task orders, our audit objective was to determine whether FirstNet Authority's process for reinvesting fee payments is effective and consistent with established practices, procedures, and regulations. We found that FirstNet Authority did not follow the U.S. Government Accountability Office's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide when preparing and documenting IGCEs used to evaluate AT&T's proposals related to deployable and 5G task orders. Specifically, we found that FirstNet Authority did not: I. sufficiently document IGCEs; II. ensure that IGCEs reflected updates based on changed conditions; III. justify fair and reasonable pricing for additional requirements proposed by AT&T that were not included in the IGCEs; IV. address legal review concerns; and V. develop a cost estimating plan describing the steps for preparing an IGCE.