A TRIO OF WIRELESS VETERANS UNVEILED A NEW PLAN for a national public-safety broadband network that would use auctioned 700 MHz spectrum to supplement first-responder frequencies in the same band.
Frontline Wireless L.L.C. filed its proposal with the Federal Communications Commission last week. Haynes Griffin, who founded Vanguard Cellular, is CEO of the startup. Janice Obuchowski, former head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is chairman of Frontline, and former FCC chairman Reed Hundt serves as vice chairman of the company.
“Through a true public safety-commercial partnership, Frontline’s
plan provides a solution to the still-unresolved hurdles to interoperable communications faced by first responders, including the continued need for more spectrum,” said Obuchowski.
Frontline, which has put together an investor group to bid on 700 MHz spectrum at an auction scheduled for later this year, wants the FCC to designate a portion of commercial 700 MHz spectrum-perhaps 13 megahertz-adjacent to public-safety frequencies in the band for a national first-responder broadband network.
Under Frontline’s plan, which would require FCC approval, public-safety agencies would have priority access to the commercial broadband spectrum during emergencies, and the network would be open to other entities such as regional wireless carriers on a wholesale basis. Police, firefighters, medics and other public-safety entities would have local control of communications over the network.
The network would be built by the private sector.
The 24 megahertz of spectrum going to public safety and 60 megahertz set for auction are predicated on Congress’ mandate that TV broadcasters return spectrum in the 700 MHz band as part of their transition to digital TV technology. The Frontline proposal is the latest in a series of plans to try to solve public-safety interoperability problems without taking away the valuable 700 MHZ spectrum wireless carriers are planning to bid on later this year.
But the Frontline initiative, unlike a plan backed by Cyren Call Communications Corp. and public-safety groups, would not require legislation. Cyren Call and first-responder organizations are lobbying Congress to set aside half of the auction-bound 60 megahertz of spectrum for a national public-safety broadband communications network.
CTIA was cautious in its comments about the proposal. “While we are still reviewing it, it appears to conclude that more spectrum is needed to solve this problem,” said Joe Farren, a spokesman for cellphone association CTIA. “However, one interesting component of the plan is the idea that Frontline would acquire the spectrum at auction.”
McCain’s public-safety twist
Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced a public-safety broadband bill that veers from the approach advocated by Cyren Call-the plan he supported initially.
The “Spectrum Availability for Emergency-Response and Law-Enforcement to Improve Vital Emergency Services Act” calls for the FCC 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.
Cyren Call and leading public-safety groups argue the 24 megahertz at 700 MHz coming public safety’s way is not sufficient to support broadband applications. For its part, 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 Frontline’s proposal.
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. 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 Sen. 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.”
