Committee backs AT&T amendments and adds cybersecurity clause for city cellular and FirstNet services

The Budget & Finance Committee voted to forward to the full Board two contract amendment resolutions between the Department of Technology (DT) and AT&T Mobility.

Hao Xie, DT strategic sourcing manager, described proposed changes: extend the citywide cellular voice and data agreement term through June 2027 and increase the contract’s not-to-exceed amount; and increase the public-safety FirstNet agreement amount for prioritized first-responder cellular services. Xie said the contracts serve thousands of lines across city departments (DT reported roughly 5,000–6,200 AT&T lines across contracts) and presented per-line average monthly costs (about $26.09 for the citywide voice/data contract and about $48.48 for FirstNet lines).

To better control costs and cybersecurity, DT agreed to three measures: update the citywide mobile device use policy, develop a citywide tracking solution for cellular service ordering, and require departmental chief financial officers to certify quarterly that active lines are necessary and are using efficient plans; DT said unused lines would be disconnected or suspended after review.

The Budget & Legislative Analyst recommended approval and suggested the Board ask DT to include stronger controls in the new mobile device policy (for example, requiring justification for lines inactive 60 days). Chair Chan proposed and the committee adopted a motion to add a clause aligning the contract amendments with efforts to strengthen cyber security. The committee then forwarded the amended resolutions to the full Board with a positive recommendation (three ayes).

DT and BLA presented multiple not-to-exceed figures in committee remarks; the committee relied on the packet and recommended DT provide the Board packet numbers for final consideration. The committee’s action sends the amended contracts to the full Board for final approval.