WASHINGTON-The wireless and public-safety communities lost another battle for 700 MHz spectrum to the powerful TV broadcasting lobby.
Last week started out well: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced legislation to set a hard date to end the transition to digital TV. Less than 24 hours after the McCain bill was introduced, a majority of the Senate Commerce Committee diluted the bill, inserting a provision that says TV broadcasters may be able to keep spectrum in the 700 MHz band indefinitely.
“The Federal Communications Commission may waive the requirements (to return the spectrum) … to the extent necessary to avoid consumer disruption while maximizing the ability of relevant public-safety entities to use such frequencies in the affected designated market areas,” according to an amendment by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee. Burns is a former radio broadcaster.
McCain said the Burns amendment is worse than the rules in place today, which require broadcasters to return the extra spectrum they were given for the DTV transition when 85 percent of the viewers in their broadcast area can receive a digital signal or Dec. 31, 2006, whichever is later.
Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said criticism of the Burns amendment was not justified. “What you call a loophole we call flexibility,” said Hollings.
McCain, a consistent critic of the National Association of Broadcasters, said the amendment to his comprehensive public-safety bill showed how a powerful special interest could trump public safety.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association focused on the fact that the Burns amendment “officially” changes the date Dec. 31, 2008, and removes the 85 percent criteria. Nevertheless, the wireless association admitted that the uncertainty was not helpful.
“The bill that resulted from the Senate Commerce Committee markup yesterday includes the promising step of a 2008 deadline for broadcasters to vacate analog spectrum being reallocated for public safety. However, it also includes a provision that allows the FCC to waive the requirement that broadcasters vacate their 700 MHz spectrum. This provision will introduce unnecessary uncertainty into the DTV transition process. This spectrum is too valuable and has been held by broadcasters for too long. Public safety and consumers deserve the certainty of knowing that this spectrum will be made available in a predictable timeframe,” said CTIA.
The Senate will probably not even consider the Save Lives Act, said McCain. Instead, McCain told reporters he would try to set a hard date to the DTV transition by amending legislation resulting from the 9/11 Commission Report.
“Public safety’s spectrum needs simply must be fully taken care of, conclusively. The consequences of uncertainty are severe,” said Mike Kennedy, senior vice president & director of global government relations for Motorola Inc. “Every day that our police, fire, and emergency medical professionals do not have this spectrum is another day too late.”
Meanwhile, the Spectrum Coalition for Public Safety showcased the District of Columbia’s public-safety wireless broadband solution as a way to convince lawmakers that public safety needs an additional 10 megahertz of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band.
“In this era of Code Orange warnings, the capacity to rapidly deploy high-speed wireless applications-such as chemical/biological alarms, remote video monitoring at command sites, video information for officers on patrol, cross-jurisdictional database messaging, and ambulance-hospital video links-is absolutely essential to keep the public safe,” said the Spectrum Coalition for Public Safety.
The D.C. 10-site system is operating under an 18- month experimental license. However, the license could be increased to as much as five years, said FCC officials. The broadband wireless system uses technology by Flarion Technologies and Motorola Inc.
The 9/11 Commission Report highlighted the need for first responders to better communicate. Although many have interpreted this as more spectrum for interoperability among first responders, the Spectrum Coalition for Public Safety believes the 9/11 Commission meant all of the available communication methods-not just voice.
While most TV broadcasters say the transition to turn over the channels is going well, another diverse group that hopes to gain access to the 700 MHz band disagrees. “This analysis paints a stark picture of the digital transition in this country. It illustrates once and for all that the transition to DTV is behind schedule and continues to exclude millions of Americans-especially those in rural areas and this is happening despite the fact that the nation’s broadcasters were supposed to broadcasting their DTV service at full power by 2002,” said George Landrith of Frontiers of Freedom, a member of the Digital Transition Coalition.
The Digital Transition Coalition, a diverse group that wants to use the spectrum for a variety of reasons, submitted maps to the FCC that showed that more than 36 percent of Americans cannot receive the digital signal of at least one of the networks in their area.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell has endorsed an FCC Media Bureau proposal that would set Jan. 1, 2009, as the end of the transition. As introduced, the Save Lives Act adopted the 2009 date, but did not accept the Media Bureau proposal because it allows low-income residents to receive a subsidy to purchase a DTV converter box or for a one-time only installation of cable or satellite. The Media Bureau plan allowed cable or satellite companies to change the TV broadcasters’ digital signals into one that could be watched on an analog TV.
