That’s where the money is”
– Willie Sutton
In 2008, the FCC attempted to auction off a block of 700 MHz to the wireless industry, with a requirement that the winning bidder help build out a sturdy communications network that would be shared with first responders in an emergency. But those conditions proved too onerous, and the $1.5 Billion minimum bid failed to attract any serious bidders, with Qualcomm the highest bidder around $472 million.
Now the agency is hoping to rework the D Block plan. This time around, the agency hopes to auction off the D Block to wireless carriers and use the proceeds – [curiously] projected to be as much as $4 billion – to help pay for a public safety network on a separate slice of spectrum already set aside for first responder broadband use.
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV.), Commerce Committee chairman, is introducing a bill that would hand over the 10 megahertz of “D Block” spectrum to public safety officials, adding to the 10 they already possess. Police, fire and other public safety groups have argued they need that additional spectrum to meet data demands of the future.
The existing public safety block, the FCC says, provides plenty of capacity for day-to-day operations – letting first responders access everything from surveillance video to fingerprint databases using laptops and handheld devices in the field. And in an emergency, the FCC proposal would give public safety users priority access to the shared public/private D Block as well as LTE cellular services from AT&T and Verizon.
The FCC says its proposal would fulfill a Congressional requirement to auction off the D Block and ensure public safety benefits from the latest wireless technology. It enables nation-wide broadband wireless. For everyone. First responders, too.
“We have a brief technological window to get everybody on the same page from the beginning and build a 21st Century … broadband system,” says Rear Admiral James Barnett, head of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.
But the FCC proposal has run into fierce resistance from public safety leaders who want the spectrum for themselves.
“If they auction this spectrum, we’ve lost it forever,” says Rob Davis, head of the San Jose Police Department and president of the Major Cities Chiefs of Police Association. “We need to control this network ourselves.”
Public safety officials have powerful allies in Congress, including Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Meanwhile, House Commerce Committee leaders are drafting legislation based on the FCC plan.
Lieberman and McCain’s First Responders Protection Act would require the FCC to pay for a $5.5B network and allocate another $5.5 billion in auction proceeds to cover recurring maintenance and operational costs. The Rockefeller bill would raise money from auctioning off broadcast licenses. The NAB praised a bill introduced Monday by Senators John Kerry and Olympia Snowe, that would require that the FCC and NTIA to measure spectrum use and occupancy rates.
The big wireless carriers have also joined the fray. T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel Corp., eager for more spectrum, support the FCC proposal. Verizon Wireless and AT&T, both with 700 MHz spectrum from 2008 auctions, want to see the D Block go to public safety. So does Motorola, which dominates the market for first responder communications equipment and handsets.
The FCC’s plan — supported by the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission — “will ensure the build-out of a network that is cutting edge, reliable, and cost-effective,” FCC spokesman Rob Kenny said. It would auction off the 10 MHz “D Block”, but allow public service agencies to use the commercial frequencies.
The FCC says it’s plan meets the needs of first responders. The FCC’s proposal would give public safety users instant priority access to at least three times more spectrum in a crisis. LTE can make far more efficient use of airwaves than public safety networks do today.
Proponents of the FCC plan might argue that nationwide satellite phone/terrestrial LTE service, would provide more universal service for first responders at less cost. How many terrestrial public service radio networks were working after Katrina? Very few. If towers weren’t blown down, they lost power. Satellite phones were the only practical way to keep in touch. New satphone platforms, like Terrestar and Skyterra, handle high speed data, and use inexpensive handsets.
But Chuck Dowd (pdf testimony), deputy chief in the communications division of the New York City Police Department, says commercial networks are just not reliable enough for first responders who deal with life-and-death matters. Richard Mirgon, president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International, adds that in a mass emergency, commercial networks are often already overwhelmed – making it impossible for first responders to even connect to them.
David Stephenson writes about Web 2.0 homeland security strategies. He says DHS thinks of the Internet as a place for brochureware rather than a central repository for real-time information.
If Police manage to grab the “D Block”, they’re unlikely to get “apps” or free money for universal broadband service. First responders would be on the wrong side of an asymmetric force multiplier.
The dispute is now headed to Congress, with the focus on funding.
The FCC’s first responder radio plan puts the cost of building the public safety network at roughly $6.5 billion and the cost of operating and maintaining it at between $6 billion and $10 billion over 10 years – less than half the cost of a stand-alone network, the FCC says.
In the face of a ballooning federal deficit and state and local budget cuts, Rear Admiral James Barnett, head of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, insists the FCC plan offers the best way to come up with this funding.
But public safety officials are confident they can find the money to pay for a broadband network even without D Block auction proceeds. They would target additional Treasury funds generated by the FCC as it auctions more spectrum over the next 10 years.
Related 700 MHz articles on Dailywireless include; Public Safety: Show Us The Money, Phoney Spectrum Scarcity, D-Block: It’s Done; Congress Pays, The 700MHz Network: Who Pays?, Big Bucks for 700 MHz Public Safety, FCC: Stop Complaining about Interoperability, Police & Fire: No Broadband for You, Commentary: Future of Public Safety Communications, New York Cancels Statewide Wireless Network, New York’s $2B Statewide Network Close to Canceling, M/A-COM to NY: We’re Good, NY Gives Tyco 45 days to Fix Network, Battle for Oregon’s State-wide Radio Net, Cascadia Peril, Commentary: Future of Public Safety Communications, New York Cancels Statewide Wireless Network, New York’s $2B Statewide Network Close to Canceling, M/A-COM to NY: We’re Good, NY Gives Tyco 45 days to Fix Network, NY State’s Public Service Net: Failure?, NY State’s Wireless Net Broken?, New York State’s $1B Wireless Net, FCC: What’s Wrong with 700MHz Public Service?, Senate Testimony on 700MHz Sharing, Public Safety: We Like 700MHz Public/Private Plan, Hearings on 700MHz Auction, TerreStar Roams with AT&T, Skyterra/MSV Get $500M, MSS: Battle Space, Verizon: LTE in 25 to 30 Markets By 2010,Sustainable Free Wi-Fi, Battle of the Bands Goes to Congress, Hearings on 700MHz Auction, AT&T/TerreStar: Dual-mode Satphone, APCO Celebrates 75th Annual Conference, 700MHz: Money Talks, Reed Hundt Talks, FCC Finalizes Rules on 700MHz: Limited Open Access, No Wholesale Requirement, Frontline: Out of Business, Google’s 700 MHz Plans, AT&T “Open” to 700MHz — Not, AWS Auction: It’s Done!, RUS Funding for 700 MHz, Rural Broadband Gets A Plan, Cyren Call Proposes Joint Commecial/Muni for 700Mhz, 700 MHz Scenarios, AT&T Buys 700MHz from Aloha, Google Android hits G-Spot, Google’s 700 MHz Plans, Cyren Call to Manage Public Safety Spectrum, Android Developer Challenge — $10M, Oregon’s $500 Million Statewide Wireless Network, General Dynamics Wins IWN Contract, Joint Commercial/Muni Proposed for 700Mhz, Small Ops Squeezed Out of 700MHz?, The Smartest Guy in the Room, 700 Mhz Worth $28B, The 700 Mhz Club, 700MHz: It’s Done!.
