Dear Editor:
Recent trade articles have covered the story of American Airlines’ difficulties with a commercial specialized mobile radio service. This is just one part of a multidimensional problem that is finally garnering the attention of some members of Congress. The problem, known to most of us in the private radio industry for many years, is just this: spectrum auctions are not appropriate for all of our nation’s wireless communications needs.
For me at least, the airline’s problems in using a commercial service to meet its unique communications needs, come as no surprise. For the past five years, my company has been trying to get the Federal Communications Commission to license unused 900 MHz private radio spectrum to provide just the type of dispatch service that our major airports are so sorely lacking. And, the impediment to this project is equally apparent: the prevailing view at the FCC is that even these special and unique radio services that historically have been considered “private radio,” should be provided by commercial carriers who are willing to bid for spectrum rights.
The impetus for my company’s airport-radio service began in the wake of the Air Florida disaster here in our nation’s Capitol. Many airport, airline and other public service personnel at National Airport did not have a unified, dedicated communications network service at that airport environ. Rather, in the chaotic moments following the crash, precious time was squandered as essential personnel tried to communicate with each other over grid-locked spectrum, and incompatible frequencies and networks.
American Airlines’ recent complaints about ground personnel not being able to put through calls on a commercial network, simply underscores the point. Commercial mobile radio carriers are not equipped, or have no economic incentives, to dedicate their networks to the unique safety, delivery and real-time requirements of our major airports. Commercial SMR carriers, after bidding millions of dollars for spectrum with imposing three to five year build out requirements, or having paid millions of dollars to acquire that spectrum, are simply not going to devote their expensive networks to serve an area of little more than a few square miles, particularly since airports typically generate only low margin dispatch calls, rather than high revenue interconnect calls. A dedicated private radio network, on the other hand, with relatively few channels and low infrastructure costs, would be perfectly appropriate for this unique radio customer-a busy airport.
The Federal Communications Commission should not wait for another airport catastrophe to conclude that the SMR commercial service model simply doesn’t fit the special needs of our airports. I know of nothing in the Communications Act that requires this agency to auction off all available spectrum; rather, the agency is supposed to allocate scarce spectrum in a manner that best serves “the public interest, convenience and necessity.” The FCC has before it a proposal that will more than meet the statutory goal, and improve the safety and service of airports for all of us. To do this, it must simply resolve to forgo some spectrum auction revenues to accomplish the task.
Don Goodwin, president
LMR Systems Inc.
McLean, Va.
