WASHINGTON-The wireless industry was as close to getting its hands on 700 MHz spectrum as it ever has been. A hard date had been set for auctioning broadcast spectrum as part of the transition to digital TV services. The House and the Senate had approved a federal budget bill that would set the date for completing the digital TV transition by Feb. 17, 2009.
But a procedural move in the Senate sent the bill back to the House late last week-and the House left for its winter break. As such, it is unclear whether lawmakers plan to return to Capitol Hill before the end of January to vote on the measure. Also included in the bill was language to fund enhanced 911 services. That too is up in the air.
Wireless, high-tech and public-safety lobbyists were celebrating early Wednesday after Vice President Dick Cheney broke a 50-50 tie to pass the budget. “After years of debate and negotiation, the stage is now set for a groundbreaking change in American innovation and public safety,” said Ralph Hellmann, senior vice president of government relations for the Information Technology Industry Council. “The expected presidential approval of the reconciliation package means that the last hurdle has been cleared.”
In 1997, Congress said that broadcasters in 2007 would have to return an extra 6 megahertz of spectrum they were given to facilitate the DTV transition, but TV broadcasters could keep the spectrum if more than 15 percent of the homes in their viewing areas could not receive digital signals. The hard date would eliminate this caveat.
The Congress Budget Office has estimated the value of the DTV spectrum at around $10 billion. Private estimates have reached as high as $30 billion.
The budget bill sets aside $1 billion to aid public-safety interoperability and creates a fund to subsidize set-top converter boxes for people who receive TV signals over the air.
Since the government expects to garner revenues from selling the spectrum, the DTV bill was included as part of the 2006 budget-reconciliation process. The bill also says the auctions must start before Jan. 28, 2008.
If the spectrum auction raises more than $10 billion, a fund would be created to give E-911 grants, according to the bill.
“Our goal must be to equip public-safety answering points with the best technology available, enabling them to provide the service that citizens have come to expect when they dial 911. Funding the implementation of the E-911 Act is a critical step needed to meet this goal,” said David Jones, president of the National Emergency Number Association.
The E-911 Act was passed in late 2004 authorizing an E-911 grant program to be created. That was the carrot. The stick was if a state raided its 911 fund-paid for by end users-for other purposes, it would not be eligible for the grants.
The grant program was authorized so late in the year that it was not included in the president’s budget request for fiscal-year 2006 and was never really considered this year. Language allowing for funding was slipped into the DTV Transition Act of 2005, but was a lower priority.
“This is an important step in the right direction toward funding the E-911 Act, and NENA looks forward to working with Congress to fully fund the act in the years preceding the 2008 spectrum auction through the traditional appropriations process. NENA appreciates the promise of this future revenue, but we must not lose site of the funding needs that the 911 community still faces today,” said Jones.
