Public safety rallies for public-private partnership on D Block: Lawmakers raise questions on 700 MHz conditions

Public-safety groups scrambled to salvage support for a private-sector funded national wireless broadband network shared by first responders and a commercial entity, following calls by some House Republicans to abandon in the 700 MHz D-Block re-auction that they consider a fatally flawed experiment.
“APCO International believes a public-private partnership between the D Block and public safety is currently the most viable option for funding and deployment of a national interoperable broadband network for public safety,” said Willis Carter, president of the Association of Public-Safety Officials International. “The FCC should move with all deliberative speed while ensuring that public-safety needs are addressed.”
No bidder put up the $1.3 billion minimum for the D Block in the recently completed 700 MHz auction, with the license receiving only a single bid for $472 million from Qualcomm Inc. during the opening round. Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility accounted for the lion’s share of the record $19 billion raised for the U.S. Treasury.
Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas), ranking minority member of the House Commerce Committee, Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) reiterated at yesterday’s House telecom subcommittee hearing serious reservations about the public-private framework that they previously raised in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Chairman in June. Stearns strongly suggested re-auctioning the D Block without any conditions, and giving the proceeds to public safety to build a nationwide system with interoperable and broadband capabilities. Stearns said legislation would be needed to earmark D Block auction funds for a national public-safety wireless network.
Harlin McEwen, chairman and CEO of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust, said he doubted a strait forward D-Block auction could raise adequate funds for a capital-intensive public safety undertaking estimated to cost at least $6 billion. The PSST is the FCC-approved 700 MHz public-safety broadband licensee.
“While we must learn from the recent auction experience, NENA remains convinced that a public-private partnership between the commercial D-Block licensee and public safety is currently the most viable option for funding and deploying a national interoperable broadband network for public safety,” said Jason Barbour, president of the National Emergency Number Association. “We encourage the FCC to move forward diligently while ensuring that public safety’s need for an advanced next generation wireless broadband network is realized.”
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner Michael Copps voiced continued support for the public-private approach, subject to rule changes geared to attracting a private-sector entity willing partner with public safety. Even if such an arrangement is kept intact, federal regulators could make rule modifications to the D-Block’s reserve price, build-out and service requirements and network-sharing agreement guidelines.
In a separate but related issue, House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) grilled Cyren Call Communications Corp. Chairman Morgan O’Brien about his company’s relationship with the PSST and pre-auction talks with prospective bidders. Those talks revolved around a proposed $50 million-a-year lease payment the D-Block winner would owe the PSST for access to 700 MHz public-safety frequencies. Cyren Call is the official advisor to the PSST. Cyren Call, funded by several venture capital firms, has made at least one loan to the PSST.
Dingell requested documents related to financial arrangements between Cyren Call and PSST.
The FCC and Congress are investigating allegations surrounding the D-Block failure, including the abrupt collapse of Frontline Wireless L.L.C. — a one-time, leading D-Block candidate — shortly before the Jan. 24 start of the auction. The FCC’s Martin said he will await the results of the agency’s inspector general’s probe before initiating a new rulemaking on the D Block.
Martin told lawmakers all options are on the table.