WASHINGTON-The Association of Public-safety Communications Officials endorsed a proposal submitted earlier this year by Cyren Call Communications Corp. that would set aside 30 megahertz of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band for a next-generation public-safety network that industry would build and share with first responders.
The spectrum is currently slated to be auctioned to commercial interests in 2008.
“Rather than auctioning the spectrum, a more viable approach would be to assign the 30 megahertz to a government-created entity that, through public/private partnerships, would construct and operate a nationwide broadband network to address public-safety communications requirements,” said APCO. “An auction would forever place control of the spectrum in the hands of commercial enterprises that do not have public safety as their principal overriding objective. In contrast, assigning the spectrum to a government-created entity with public/private partnerships would ensure that a broadband network developed for the spectrum, while used in part for commercial purposes, would be built and maintained to public-safety specifications, including coverage, reliability, survivability, functionality and on-demand access. Critical first-responder communications should not be dependent upon the business plans, successes or failures of commercial providers.”
Cyren envisions a public-private partnership with commercial operators that would underwrite network-infrastructure deployment in exchange for leveraging the 700 MHz band for wireless business opportunities. First responders and others would have preferential access to the 30-megahertz block during emergencies, but would otherwise occupy a very small portion of network capacity to satisfy day-to-day public-safety requirements.
The FCC has yet to act on the Cyren petition. However, recently the agency said it was reconsidering the band plan for the 700 MHz auction, but gave no indication of support for the Cyren proposal.
In 1997, Congress designated for public safety 24 megahertz of the spectrum being returned as part of the transition to digital TV; the rest is to be auctioned.
“This 24 megahertz of spectrum, standing alone, is insufficient to meet public-safety future requirements,” argued APCO.
Earlier this year, Congress said the revenues from the 700 MHz spectrum auction should be used for various purposes including public-safety interoperability and a set-top box subsidy as part of the DTV transition. Wireless carriers have been fighting for access to the spectrum for years.
