The Federal Communications Commission is set to launch a fast-track rulemaking on Frontline Wireless L.L.C.’s public-safety broadband plan and other issues not resolved in next week’s scheduled decision on commercial 700 MHz rules.
An apparent casualty of the latest developments is the 700 MHz broadband optimization plan sought by Access Spectrum L.L.C. and Pegasus Communications Corp., which proposed shifting around frequencies to gain an additional 3 megahertz of spectrum for public safety. But there were fears doing so might put the FCC on shaky legal ground if the move was deemed an illegal reallocation of spectrum.
“It’s one of the best proposals that came down the pike for public safety and the country in years,” said Mark Crosby, president of the Enterprise Wireless Alliance, referring to the broadband optimization plan. “It’s ashamed it ran into a brick wall.”
The mobile phone industry opposed the broadband optimization plan and has criticized Frontline’s plan as flawed.
It was only a week ago that Robert McDowell, a member of the FCC’s Republican majority, all but wrote off Frontline’s public-safety proposal because of time constraints tied to getting the 700 MHz auction off the ground later this year. The auction, which congressional budget experts predict could generate up to $15 billion for the U.S. Treasury, arguably represents the last best chance for incumbents and prospective entrants to buy license rights to a large pool of prime spectrum-in this case 60 megahertz of public airwaves.
The 700 MHz auction is also regarded as a unique opportunity for advancing the state of U.S. public safety communications whose lack of interoperability and broadband capabilities have taken on added urgency in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and deadly hurricanes of recent years.
Frontline gains diverse backing
Frontline, led by former Vanguard Cellular co-founder Haynes Griffin and previous Bush and Clinton administration officials, has attracted significant interest in large part because of an open-access concept whereby 10 megahertz of commercial spectrum adjacent to public safety’s 700 MHz spectrum would be available for both private and priority first-responder use.
Indeed, Frontline’s plan has steadily gained momentum in recent weeks as additional blue-chip investors signed on and a mix of Internet, consumer, think tank and utility groups saw a chance to further agendas like net neutrality and imposing the 1968 Carterfone decision on the cellular industry as Internet voice service provider Skype has requested.
Frontline last week inked new partnerships with former Netscape executive James Barksdale, software radio technology innovator Vanu Bose, and John Doerr of the venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. The new investors join Ram Shriram, managing partner of venture investment company Sherpalo Ventures, as Frontline partners.
“(Hurricane) Katrina showed that the communications needs of first responders-and the people they serve-have waited far too long for adequate wireless tools,” said Barksdale, a native of Mississippi who joined the governor’s Commission on the Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal of Mississippi. “These challenges are not unique to Louisiana or Mississippi. Frontline will provide advanced communications for public safety on a national basis with a secure, 4th Generation network built at no cost to first responders.”
Industry remains opposed
Open access-a persuasive Frontline selling point in meetings with policymakers-also happens to be one of main criticisms of the mobile phone industry to the plan.
But with first responder groups viewing as inadequate a separate FCC plan to set aside half of public safety’s 24 megahertz of spectrum at 700 MHz for broadband communications and Cyren Call Communications Corp.’s legislative efforts to secure more spectrum for firefighters, police and medics uncertain at best, the cellular industry could find it hard to derail Frontline’s initiative. Moreover, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, whose response to Hurricane Katrina got higher marks than those of his brethren in the Bush administration, probably does not want to depart his post without having sufficiently addressed public-safety communications requirements in the post-9/11 world. Such an achievement could be a long way off if Martin decides to pursue elected office in the future, as some have speculated he might.
What Frontline lacks is endorsement of its plan by key first responder groups, like the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International, that have lined up behind the Cyren Call proposal. Whether that support will shift to Frontline is unclear. Public safety representatives are apt to warm to a provision in the upcoming Frontline rulemaking that would require sign-off by first responders before build-out on the 10 megahertz block at 700 MHz can commence, according to sources.
FCC action expected this month
David Fiske, an FCC spokesman, said the agency likely will vote on an omnibus 700 MHz order at its April 25 meeting. The order, he added, will trigger a request for public comment on Frontline Wireless’ plan and other 700 MHz issues. The commission may give two weeks for comments and one week for replies. Separately, the FCC will host a first responder summit on April 20.
“We expect negotiation among the commissioners over several issues, including how many additional licenses to break down into smaller geographic areas as sought by rural carriers and the cable consortium, which could in turn determine the scope of combinatorial bidding sought by DirecTV and EchoStar, and whether to break up the large 20 MHz block that Verizon seeks to keep intact, but that most others want to break into two 10 MHz licenses,” said analysts at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc.
Stifel Nicolaus and others said the auction may not get underway until December.
