FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN could face trouble securing support from the agency’s two Democrats for a key component of his 700 MHz plan, but the draft rule could entice Verizon Wireless to become more serious about a possible partnership with public safety.
I’m a big believer in open access,” said Michael Copps, one of the FCC’s two Democrats, according to the Associated Press. A Copps aide confirmed the commissioner’s statement. “And to me that means wholesale as well as device and application freedom.”
Jonathan Adelstein , the other FCC Democrat, Recently said he supports the creation of an open-access wireless network in the 700 MHz band. Martin’s 700 MHz draft order would permit limited open access on two 11-megahertz blocks of 700 MHz spectrum, but licenses apparently would neither be national nor subject to a wholesale mandate. That approach has drawn criticism from special-interest groups, and strays from Frontline Wireless L.L.C.’s proposal to mandate open-access and wholesale requirements for a national 700 MHz network using commercial and public-safety frequencies.
“For open access to benefit American innovation and consumers, it has to have meaning, including no blocking of content or locking of features. Half a loaf is no loaf,” said Frontline Wireless Chairman Janice Obuchowski. “Frontline insists that the upcoming auction rules for 700 MHz benefit first responders with a nationwide, new network buildout for public-safety interoperability, based on a public-private partnership.”
Silicon Valley-backed Frontline last week added former FBI director Louis Freeh to its team to help with outreach to public safety.
Open opposition
The Republican FCC chief is also feeling heat from the mobile-phone industry and his own party, with both opposed to any open-access condition being attached to 700 MHz licenses.
“Crafting special rules for a company with a market cap of $170 billion to address problems that don’t exist in our competitive market makes absolutely no sense whatsoever,” said Steve Largent, president of cellphone industry association CTIA, referring to Google Inc. “The bottom line is that the American taxpayer is at serious risk of losing billions of dollars because one of the wealthiest companies in the world has apparently convinced policymakers that they require special auction rules that tailor-fit their business plan.”
Google is considering participating in the 700 MHz auction, but only if rules mandate wholesale, open applications, open devices and open networks. “We believe that adopting these four license conditions collectively will encourage prospective broadband companies to participate in the auction, and be able to bid successfully for the available spectrum,” said Richard Whitt, Google’s Washington telecom and media counsel.
The auction of 60 megahertz at 700 MHz-which is expected to fetch up to $15 billion in part because of the band’s excellent propagation characteristics-is expected to be held in late December or early January. Final 700 MHz auction rules are expected to be issued early next month.
Public-safety’s voice
Public-safety groups, for their part, have rallied around Martin’s intention to designate for bidding a national 10-megahertz block in which the winning bidder would be required to work with public safety on adjacent first-responder frequencies to improve first-responder communications capabilities-particularly interoperability and broadband connectivity-on a national scale.
“In this world of power, politics and money-Chairman Kevin Martin stepped up to the plate in a grand way to propose rules that appear to consider public safety,” said Charles Werner, chief of the Charlottesville, Va., Fire Department. “The rules look as though they cover most of what public safety has been seeking and it is a major acknowledgement of the public-safety spectrum needs identified in numerous official reports. Hopefully, the other FCC commissioners will join Chairman Martin and demonstrate the FCC’s will to do the right thing for truth, justice and the public safety!”
While Martin’s 700 MHz plan complicates Frontline’s campaign, it could bring the nation’s No. 2 cellphone operator to the table with first responders.
Verizon’s options
Sources said Verizon Wireless has been meeting with public-safety officials on, among other things, becoming a partner in a national commercial-public-safety broadband network. Whether Martin’s move against including open access in a commercial-public safety network will persuade Verizon Wireless to join forces with public safety via the 700 MHz auction is unclear.
“We’ve never discussed bidding strategies, nor will we now,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman.
Sources said there have been discussions about Verizon Wireless or CTIA writing a letter to the FCC to express industry’s intention to work with public safety on a national 700 MHz network.
The Bush administration has failed to bring communications interoperability and broadband connectivity to first responders in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Taking the next steps
“For the most part, everything public safety advocated is in the order,” said Harlin McEwen, chairman of the communications and technology committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
McEwen also serves as president of the new Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corp., an entity backed by nine national public-safety organizations and formed in anticipation of an FCC ruling creating for auction a new national commercial public safety broadband license. APCO’s Robert Gurss is the PSST’s vice president.
The PSST already issued a request for proposals for applicants interested in becoming an agent adviser to the group.
“The 700 MHz spectrum represents a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for the public-safety community to gain the state-of-the-art communications tools we need to do our jobs effectively and safely. Therefore we are taking necessary steps to ensure that we are prepared to move the process along as efficiently as possible,” said McEwen. “We are committed to making the RFP process transparent and competitive to maximize our options of selecting a suitable partner(s) in this critical endeavor.” Bids are due July 30.
Cyren Call Communications Corp., a startup headed by industry veteran Morgan O’Brien and the primary catalyst for public-safety communications reform, is expected to be a leading candidate for the job.
Congressional debate
Meantime, last week’s House telecom subcommittee hearing on wireless innovation and consumer protection, turned into a forum for the 700 MHz debate.
“The FCC has a rare chance to foster similar innovation in the wireless marketplace in the upcoming auctions. As I have suggested previously, the FCC should seize this opportunity to create an open-access opportunity for wireless service in this auction, and should insist upon Carterfone-like principles applying to a significant portion of the licenses to be offered,” stated House telecom subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.).
In its landmark 1968 decision, the FCC allowed the Carterfone two-way radio system and other devices to connect to the old, monopoly AT&T landline network so long as they cause no disruption to the telephone system.
“Recent comments by FCC Chairman Martin that he is poised to embrace these policies in a proposal for auction rules is a step forward and welcome news,” Markey said. “I encourage the FCC chairman and his colleagues to maximize the benefits these policies can bring to consumers and the high-tech economy in their upcoming decision.”
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), ranking member of the telecom panel, disagreed.
“No matter how you slice it, forced network neutrality smothers investment in a competitive market, and in the end would leave consumers worse off and with fewer choices. . And if the FCC or Congress wanders down the wrong path and makes the wrong policy choices, the ability of wireless to live up
to its potential as the ‘third pipe’ will be greatly hindered or eliminated altogether,” Upton stated.
Steve Zipperstein, vice president and general counsel of Verizon Wireless, echoed Upton’s remarks.
“The wireless industry has produced a steady stream of innovations-from devices, to applications, to features-that have given American consumers myriad choices about how they use their wireless service,” said Zipperstein. “Consumer choice would be the casualty of policies that mandate that all companies do the same thing the same way.”
