The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) this month passed a resolution expressing support for the reallocation of 30 MHz of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band to be held in trust for public safety — a notion first proposed earlier this year by Cyren Call Communications, reports Mobile Radio Technology.

It would essentially, remove the 700 MHz band from public auction. Instead, a trust would lease the spectrum to commercial operators willing to build public-safety-grade broadband networks nationwide in a public-private partnership.

This August the Association of Public-Safety Communication Officials (APCO) voted for a similar approach. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and several regional fire-chiefs associations have also expressed support for the notion. The Western Fire Chiefs Association took it one step further this month passing a resolution “seeking an additional allocation of 30 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum to public safety” for nationwide broadband communications.

The UHF band, from channels 52 – 69 will be reassigned to radio services after television stations move their digital channel in 2009. Each channel is 6 MHz wide. The FCC is calling for the 30 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum — adjacent to the 24 MHz already earmarked for public safety — be auctioned in 2008.

Charles Townsend has already acquired channels 54 and 59 for Hiwire around the country. Hiwire is planning to use the DVB-H standard for mobile TV. Qualcomm has channel 55 for MediaFLO, their proprietary system that will be available through Verizon (and probably) Sprint.

The 700 MHz band is the next big auction after the FCC’s Advanced Wireless Services auction raised some $14B for the treasury.

The two frequency bands have different characteristics. The FCC’s Advanced Wireless Services auction will likely be used for 3G (W-CDMA) phone services. Some 90 MHZ of new bandwidth at 1.7/2.1 GHz was made available in the AWS auction, with range expected to be similar to cellular.

The 700 MHz band has some 60 MHz of new bandwidth available (30MHz in the upper and 30 MHz in the lower 700 MHz band). While it doesn’t add that much additional capacity, the range is much better — at least 3 times greater than cellular — and it penetrates inside buildings much better.

Some consumer advocates say it is the best shot the FCC has to provide broadband to every American.

The limited capacity of the 700 MHz band, however, prompted Cyren Call Communications to come up with the “broadband trust” concept whereby the band would be shared by both public and private users.

MRT Magazine reports Cyren Call officials are hopeful that support for its 700 MHz plan will be enough to convince Congress to rethink plans to auction the 30 MHz of spectrum in the band to commercial operators. Congress is scheduled to reconvene after the November elections in a lame-duck session, but Capitol Hill is not expected to alter the auction plans during that time.

Related DailyWireless articles include; AWS Auction: It’s Done!, Plan B from Wireless DBS, New 700 MHz Rules?, Joint Commecial/Muni Proposed for 700Mhz, InterOp Takes a Holiday, The AWS & 700MHz Dance, AWS Auction: Week 2, AWS Auction: Week 1, AWS Spectrum for Cable/Sprint?, Satellite AWS DropOut, FCC Sued over AWS Auction, AWS Auction: Does it Suck?, AWS Auction Delayed, The AWS & 700MHz Dance, MSS: AWS Alternative?, Funding Rural Broadband, WiMAX Trial Results, WiMAX Market Research, MSS: AWS Alternative?, US CellSat, Global Satellite Providers Now Three, Satcom Doubles Up, Biggest Spotbeam Sat Launched, WiMax Moonshot?, FCC Approves Big Mobile Sat, U.S. Cell Sat, Inmarsat Plans Domestic Satphone, President Wants 90MHz, 3G Band Scam?, Public Service Bands, Nextel Gets PCS Spectrum, County Public Safety Nets, Zero Hour for 700MHz, 700 MHz On The Line, More 700 Mhz Testimony, 700 Mhz Worth $28B, Smartest Guy in the Room, 700 Mhz: Public or Private and The 700 Mhz Club.

Posted by Sam Churchill on Monday, October 30th, 2006 at 9:37 am.