Tom Ridge, the former secretary of U.S. Homeland Security, supports a proposal being floated by Cyren Call, to use a portion of the 700 MHz band as a national broadband network for first responders, notes Carol Ellison. The 700 MHz band is scheduled to be auctioned to commercial providers later this year. Ridge argues it should, instead, be placed in a public trust.
“To be five and half years after 9/11 and be no further toward a national, broadband, interoperable communication system in my judgment is inexcusable,” Ridge told Government Technology Magazine.
A Senate committee questioned the Cyren Call proposal earlier this month, reports MRT Magazine. Cyren Call, led by Nextel Communications co-founder Morgan O’Brien, has proposed that 30 MHz of the 60 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band scheduled to be auctioned by January 2008.
Operators would be able to offer commercial services using the network, but public safety would be able to pre-empt those users whenever it needed capacity. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) questioned whether such an arrangement would generate profits a commercial carrier needs to survive:
“Would a customer choose a provider that could be pre-empted at any time by public safety?” Thune asked.
Steve Largent, president and CEO of wireless trade association CTIA, said that issue is compounded by a larger issue regarding the public-safety trust: dictating coverage requirements to a for-profit commercial provider.
“The commercial operators are asking us, ‘How we can get a return on our capital if we are coerced—forced—to build towers in rural South Dakota, where there is no return on our investment?’” Largent said. “Is this trust going to force us to build towers there because we build out in New York, and we’ll just take the [profit] from New York and use it to build in South Dakota? I just don’t think that’s realistic.”
O’Brien, who previously has said he has received interest from unnamed providers willing to participate in this project, said he is confident the business model will work, although the providers may not come from CTIA’s membership.
“With every fiber of my being and all my experience, I am sure that numerous commercial operators … and entrepreneurs will step up for the right—for the privilege—of participating in that network. Obviously, I can’t prove it, … but all of my experience raising money on Wall Street and all of my experience operating networks suggest … that is exactly what will happen.’”
The High Tech DTV Coalition also believes the best course of action is to auction the 700 MHz spectrum as current law dictates:
“When you talk about having national resources to be applied to public-safety communications, the best way is to auction the spectrum available for commercial use to raise the maximum amount of money for the Treasury,” said Jeffrey Connaughton, executive director of the High Tech DTV Coalition. “Because those are the people who will bid the highest amount of money to put the spectrum to the highest and best use and raise upwards of $10 [billion] to $15 billion.”
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