WASHINGTON-New public-safety spectrum will be denied to police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel well into early next century because of delays claimed by broadcasters in moving from analog to digital TV technology.
The snafu is an embarrassment for Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), who shepherded legislation through Congress in 1997 to reallocate 36 megahertz in TV channels 60-69 for public safety.
McCain, a possible GOP presidential contender in 2000, vented his anger at a recent hearing when TV executives cited technical problems and gave other excuses to explain why they cannot return billions of dollars of analog spectrum by 2006.
“For broadcasters to come and complain about their inability to make a transition that they promised us was in the best interest of the American people … frankly I find a little bit disingenuous, to say the least,” said McCain.
When ABC President Bob Iger suggested the government repeal the requirement for broadcasters to pay spectrum fees for subscription services, like paging, McCain mockingly replied, “Of course not, because they’re so impoverished, and there’s no reason why they should have to pay anything, for that is a public asset.”
The powerful broadcasting lobby has killed attempts by McCain to auction TV spectrum.
Now the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials has asked McCain to impose firm deadlines for broadcasters to return channels 63, 64, 68 and 69-public-safety designated spectrum-before 2006.
“The spectrum congestion and interoperability problems that led the Congress to require the FCC to allocate additional spectrum are getting worse, not better,” said Joseph McNeil, captain of the Harwich, Mass., fire department and president of APCO.
“Public-safety agencies cannot wait even until 2006, let alone an uncertain later date,” McNeil added. “The safety of life is quite literally at stake.”
APCO also wants Congress to allow public-safety access to 3 megahertz of federal government spectrum from the lightly occupied 138-144 MHz band.
Congress has directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which advises the president on telecom policy and manages federal government spectrum, to identify an additional 20 megahertz to sell.
APCO said the need for 138-144 MHz spectrum is pressing and would provide immediate relief for public-safety radio systems in the congested 150-170 MHz band. Reallocated TV channels in the 800 MHz band are not expected to be freed up any time soon, and new 800 MHz systems can be a heavy expense for money-strapped municipalities.
Moreover, APCO said the 138-144 MHz band is better suited than the 800 MHz for wide-area public-safety systems, like those in the West.
David Hatch and Doug Halonen of Crain’s Electronic Media contributed to this report.
