THE SENATE COMMERCE Committee greeted Cyren Call Communications Corp.’s public-safety broadband plan with a non-committal mix of interest, skepticism and outright hostility, a reaction compounded by an industry-funded study that concludes the initiative is a risky business proposition and could actually undermine first-responder communications.
Democratic and GOP lawmakers voiced support for improving public-safety communications interoperability and better equipping first responders generally. But none expressed explicit support for a plan widely backed by major public-safety organizations that would require Congress to remove from the auction block half of the 60 megahertz at 700 MHz and put that spectrum in
the hands of a trust to oversee the construction of a national public-safety broadband network by the private sector for shared use with police, firefighters, medics and others. First responders-represented along with Cyren Call Chairman Morgan O’Brien at last Thursday’s hearing-would have priority access to the network.
Perhaps even more worrisome for Cyren Call and public-safety groups was the virtual silence during the hearing of the lawmaker who called it, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), and the absence of the high-profile lawmaker who promised to champion the cause.
After delivering an opening statement highlighting his bipartisan bill to improve a $1 billion public-safety interoperability grant program run by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and President Bush’s administration’s alleged attempt to use NTIA grant money to hide a $1.2 billion budget cut to homeland-security grants, Inouye remained relatively quiet for the rest of the hearing.
Meantime, Senate Commerce Committee ranking member John McCain (R-Ariz.), who on Jan. 31 announced plans to introduce legislation giving public safety the 30 megahertz it seeks and authorizing a public-safety broadband trust to serve as licensee, did not attend last Thursday’s hearing. McCain’s press spokeswoman did not return a call seeking comment.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), vice chairman of the committee, was opposed to the idea of tampering with a 2006 law finally making 24 megahertz at 700 MHz available to public safety and authorizing grants for public-safety interoperability ($1 billion), enhanced 911 ($43.5 million) and emergency alert and tsunami warning systems ($156 million). The earmarks are predicated on anticipated receipts from 60 megahertz of spectrum set for auction by the Federal Communications Commission later this year. Congress ordered TV broadcasters to return the 700 MHz spectrum in February 2009 as part of their transition to digital technology. The 700 MHz auction could raise between $10 billion and $15 billion, according to congressional budget experts.
“This [the creation of a public-safety broadband trust to oversee the requested 30 megahertz] is creating a new FCC, isn’t it?” asked Stevens, who grew highly agitated by the end of the hearing.
O’Brien disagreed, adding the trust would reimburse the U.S. Treasury $5 billion from revenues of wireless carriers that operate the national network and federal loan guarantees similar to those made available to the airline, energy and auto sectors.
“It’s a hard concept for me to get my arms around,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).
Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) aggressively questioned whether public-safety agencies are making the most efficient use of existing spectrum and whether they will make the most of additional radio channels coming their way.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) latched onto testimony from a consultant based in her home state. David Billstrom of National Interop Inc. said the interoperability problem can be fixed with the same Internet protocol radio technology used by the military the past four years.
O’Brien told lawmakers improving interoperability is only a byproduct of a broader solution designed to support streaming video and other data-intensive public-safety applications.
Steve Largent, president of cellphone association CTIA, had to walk a fine between criticizing Cyren Call’s plan on various grounds and avoiding the appearance that the cellphone industry was at war with public safety.
“This industry is serious about public safety,” said Largent, who testified after Verizon Wireless rebuffed the committee’s request to produce an expert witness. Verizon Wireless has been the most outspoken national carrier on using a public-private approach and existing first-responder frequencies for a national public-safety broadband network. However, Verizon Wireless has yet to publicly offer a detailed plan.
April brainstorming session
Largent announced CTIA, in cooperation with the University of Colorado’s Silicon Flatirons Program, will host a two-day joint experts meeting in the nation’s capital the week of April 9th to brainstorm on possible industry-aided solutions to public-safety’s interoperability and broadband operational deficits. Largent said the meeting, underwritten by CTIA, would be led by industry veteran and former spectrum policy-maker Dale Hatfield.
“This [lack of public-safety broadband capability] is not going to be solved by a seminar run by Dale Hatfield or Albert Einstein.” O’Brien said.
O’Brien and public-safety leaders tried to convey a sense of urgency on the need for more spectrum. Without legislation taking this out of the auction and allocating it for the public-safety trust, this one-time opportunity will be lost forever,” stated Charles Werner, chief of the Charlottesville Fire Department in Virginia and a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
“I believe Congress has an extraordinary time-sensitive opportunity,” said Harlin McEwen, chairman of the communications and technology committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “Approval of the public-safety broadband trust and the public sector-private sector partnership will catapult public safety to its rightful place in the forefront of communications capability, while at the same time delivering broadband service to communities that continue to be bypassed by the commercial telecommunications revolution.”
Meantime, a coalition of wireless and high-tech groups urged the Senate Commerce Committee to keep intact the legislative framework for giving public-safety additional radio frequencies and rolling out digital TV.
“This proposal should alarm lawmakers as it is in conflict with the DTV Act and other statutes enacted by Congress,” said the High Tech DTV Coalition in a letter to Inouye and Stevens. “By not auctioning the commercial spectrum that will generate monies used to fund the DTV transition, Cyren Call would derail the entire transition process. In so doing, it would place at risk public-safety’s ability to obtain access to the 24 megahertz that it so desperately needs for interoperability.”
The FCC, which rejected the Cyren Call plan in November, has proposed designating for broadband use half of the 24 megahertz already allocated to first responders. The 24 megahertz is separate from the additional 30 megahertz Cyren Call and public-safety groups say they need to support wireless broadband applications.
“Congress took a landmark step last year towards ensuring that public-safety officials have the means they need to communicate in times of crisis, but the job isn’t complete,” said Jeffrey Connaughton, executive director of the High Tech DTV Coalition. “We now need to build on the success of the DTV Act by keeping to the timetable for conversion of 24 megahertz of spectrum for public safety and by ensuring that the 24 megahertz of spectrum is used efficiently and effectively.”
The coalition produced a study by Criterion Economics that said the Cyren Call plan is unworkable and a runs counter to public-safety objections, with taxpayers bearing the financial risk.
“We disagree with both the conclusions and the analysis in the High Tech DTV Coalition study, which appears to be little more than the views of paid economic consultants, lacking any knowledge of public-safety radio communications,” said Robert Gurss, director of legal and government affairs at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International.
CTIA, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc. are members of the coalition.
