FCC floats public-safety proposal

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission proposed to create a nationwide broadband wireless network at 700 MHz for first responders, but the public-safety community said the initiative does not obviate the need for additional spectrum.
The focus on public-safety communications was heightened after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the destructive Gulf Coast hurricanes last year, owing largely to the inability of first responders at the local, state and federal levels from communicating with each other. The Bush administration, however, has yet to implement a solution addressing publicsafety interoperability and spectrum requirements.
The FCC, drawing on a recently rejected proposal by Cyren Call Communications Corp. and ideas floated by the wireless industry, will solicit public comment on an approach whereby half of the public safety’s 24 megahertz at 700 MHz would be assigned to a single broadband public-safety licensee.
Police, firefighters, medics and other first responders could gain voluntary access to the broadband public-safety network for a fee. The broadband public-safety licensee could operate on a secondary, non-interference basis in the other, narrowband half of the 700 MHz publicsafety allocation.
Cellular operators and other commercial wireless carriers could tap into the broadband public-safety network also on a secondary, noninterference basis through leases or some other public-private arrangement. The FCC is looking into the possibility of opening mobile-phone networks to public-safety use.
The FCC proposal would establish performance requirements for interoperability, buildout, conditional commercial access and system robustness of a national broadband public-safety network.
“We will carefully review and provide comment on this latest FCC proposal, but it will not diminish the critical need for additional public-safety spectrum for broadband communications,” said Wanda McCarley, president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International. “We continue to strongly support efforts to allocate additional 700 MHz band spectrum for public safety, including a proposal to reallocate 30 megahertz of spectrum now slated for auction and assign it instead to a public-safety broadband trust.”
Cyren Call asked the FCC for an additional 30 megahertz at 700 MHz-separate from the 24 megahertz already earmarked for public safety in the band-to support a nationwide broadband public-safety network that the private sector would build and share with first responders. The FCC dismissed the proposal last month, concluding legislative changes would be needed to make the 30 megahertz available to public safety. The 30 megahertz sought by Cyren Call and scores of public-safety organizations represents half of the valuable spectrum block being recovered from TV broadcasters and set for auction by the FCC by early 2008. The 30 megahertz is potentially worth billions of dollars to a U.S. Treasury with a huge budget deficit.
“Over the days and weeks ahead and in concert with the public-safety community, Cyren Call will examine the NPRM [notice of proposed rulemaking] and share comments at the appropriate time. We are optimistic that the dialogue on using broadband solutions for public safety will lead to more spectrum being allocated to achieve true nationwide public-safety interoperability,” said Cyren Call.
Cyren Call Chairman Morgan O’Brien said his company and public-safety agencies around the country will lobby Congress next year to change the law to secure additional airwaves for first responders.
Mobile-phone carriers, which recently spent billions to acquire spectrum for third-generation networks and to fill in coverage gaps, oppose taking 30 megahertz of spectrum off the table.
“We intend to participate in the proceeding and look forward to working with the commission on resolving these interoperability issues,” said Joe Farren, a spokesman for cellular carrier association CTIA.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the agency is open to moving beyond the proposal if Congress deems it necessary.
“Although today’s [Dec. 20] proposal is similar to other public-safety proposals, it is not intended to be a substitute for them. The question of how the nation’s spectrum resources in the 700 MHz band should be allocated is ultimately a question for Congress, not the commission,” said Martin. “If Congress determines that additional spectrum resources in the 700 MHz band should be allocated to public safety, the commission would implement that determination. . In the meantime, however, the commission is charged with efficiently and effectively managing the 700 MHz spectrum already allocated to public safety by Congress. We must continue to discharge that obligation to the best of our ability consistent with our statutory authority. To do otherwise would abdicate our responsibility at a time when it is more important than ever to ensure that our rules give first responders the communications capabilities they need to protect safety of life and property of the American public.”
Commissioner Michael Copps, one of two Democrats on the Republican-controlled FCC, said publicsafety communications interoperability is long overdue. But he urged caution in the government’s pursuit of a public-private approach to public-safety communications.
“As I have stated before, government-commercial sharing of public-safety spectrum raises a host of complex technical and policy questions-the margin for error is uniquely low, and we must be exceptionally confident that there are no unintended consequences flowing from any actions we approve,” said Copps. “At the same time, given the long-standing need for reform in this area, we simply cannot afford to ignore innovative ideas that could potentially revolutionize existing public-safety spectrum management.”