McCain bill drops Cyren Call for Frontline

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced a public-safety broadband bill that veers from the approach advocated by Cyren Call Communications Corp., first-responder groups and even the maverick lawmaker himself.
The “Spectrum Availability for Emergency-Response and Law-Enforcement to Improve Vital Emergency Services Act” calls for the Federal Communications Commission to auction half of the 60 megahertz at 700 MHz under a conditional license whereby the winning bidder would have to meet public-safety specifications to operate a national, interoperable public-safety broadband system. The 700 MHz auction is expected to be held later this year.
Cyren Call and leading public-safety groups want Congress to set aside a 30 megahertz license in the 700 MHz band for a public-safety broadband trust, which would contract to have commercial carriers build and share a 4G network with first responders. They argue the 24 megahertz at 700 MHz coming public safety’s way is not sufficient to support broadband applications. The FCC has proposed designating half of that 24 megahertz for public-safety broadband communications.
Mobile-phone and high-tech sectors strongly oppose the Cyren Call plan, arguing firefighters, police and medics have sufficient radio channels and market-based alternatives can address any spectrum needs without taking valuable airwaves off the auction block. The Department of Homeland Security does not appear to agree with industry’s position.
In late January, McCain seemed to indicate he would push legislation that embraced Cyren Call’s approach. The McCain press release said at that time the national public-safety broadband network “would be created by licensing an additional 30 megahertz of radio spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band to a public-safety broadband trust.”
The nearest that the McCain bill comes to that arrangement would come about only by default. If there is no winning bid for the 30 megahertz, a reversionary license would be granted to a public-safety broadband trust. That is not out of the realm of possibility if bidders shun the 30 megahertz because of public-safety conditions attached to the frequencies. Such a reaction could drive up prices for the remaining 30 megahertz being auctioned. The McCain measure would cap the cost of a 30-megahertz license for a public-safety broadband trust at $5 billion.
Under current law, congressional budget experts predict the auction of all 60 megahertz being returned by TV broadcasters to raise up to $15 billion for the U.S. Treasury.
The McCain bill is structured more closely to a new proposal by Frontline L.L.C. Wireless. The startup firm recently asked the FCC to write rules to impose technical and operational public-safety conditions on up to 13 megahertz of commercial 700 MHz spectrum adjacent to the 24 megahertz going to first responders.
Public-safety representatives did not hide their disappointment with the McCain bill.
“We strongly prefer legislation that grants a license for 30 megahertz in the 700 MHz band directly to a public-safety broadband trust, thus ensuring that public-safety needs were given first priority in the deployment of the spectrum,” said first responder groups. “We continue to urge Congress to adopt the PSBT model. Nevertheless, we appreciate Sen. McCain’s efforts to open the debate, and look forward to working with him and others in Congress as we move forward to shape legislation to meet the critical need for public safety broadband communications capability.” The remarks were jointly issued by Robert Gurss of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, Harlin McEwen, representing the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs’ Association, and Alan Caldwell for the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Cyren Call also commented on McCain’s seeming reversal.
“With this in mind, we applaud Senator McCain for taking this first important step to translate this unanimous agreement into concrete legislative action,” said Cyren Call chief Morgan O’Brien. “However, a subtle and critically important distinction remains in who holds the spectrum license. Cyren Call continues to believe that the Public Safety Broadband Trust must fill that role. The only way to make sure the right network for first responders gets built from the start-and staying true over time to public safety requirements as they inevitably change-is to place control over the network, along with the license to the spectrum, in the hands of public safety.”
O’Brien continued: “Does anybody remember NextWave? That debacle illustrates what happens when commercial entities promise what they need to promise to win an auction, only to renege on that promise, while retaining the spectrum license. In this situation, such an event would be tragic for public safety and the nation.”