Evercore ISI, a New York City-based independent investment banking advisory firm, has pointed to Verizon as the most likely candidate to build out the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), Investors Business Daily reported Monday.

According to the report, Evercore based its prediction on the FirstNet board’s recent decision to only accept “national deployment” offers from companies responding to the buildout request for proposals.

Evercore’s analysts said though the other three main U.S. carriers offer single area strengths, Verizon has the highest network scores across the largest proportion of the country, making it a likely candidate for the FirstNet board’s single primary partner preference. The Evercore report seconds an April prediction from Macquaire Capital that also put Verizon at the front of the pack for the project.

Federally mandated in 2012, FirstNet is a planned nationwide network for first responders in the D block 700 MHz spectrum. Nearly $7 billion from the AWS-3 spectrum auction has been set aside for the network’s buildout, though doubts have arisen about the likelihood of completing the project at that price point. Analysts cited by Investors Business Daily have placed the final figure between $20 billion and $30 billion. Questions have also surfaced about whether the network will actually be utilized as intended as there is no mandate requiring first responders to use the network once it’s up and running.