WASHINGTON—The Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police plans to urge Congress to lean on the Federal Communications Commission to put the 700 MHz Cyren Call Communications Inc. proposal out for public comment. The move would start the debate on whether the spectrum should be used for commercial or public safety.
“It’s alarming that the average American household has access to more advanced technology than many of our brethren entrusted to protect our neighborhoods and nation,” said MACP President Ervin Portie, who is the Jackson, Mich., chief of police. “It is only appropriate for the FCC to open a national debate before we lose the opportunity forever.”
The MACP in June adopted a resolution urging Congress and the FCC to consider the Cyren proposal.
Michigan is a key lobbying state because it is home to the House telecommunications subcommittee chairman as well as a ranking member of the House Commerce Committee.
A press release announcing the MACP’s resolution prematurely states that letters to Capitol Hill and the FCC have already been sent. However, as of this morning, the letters have not yet been sent.
While the MACP’s press release mentions Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House telecom subcommittee, and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), ranking member of the House Commerce Committee, it leaves out Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a former state trooper and a vocal advocate of public-safety spectrum. It is unclear whether Stupak will be asked to join in the lobbying effort.
Cyren Call filed a petition with the FCC in April to reserve 30 megahertz in the upper 700 MHz band for a next-generation public-safety network that industry would build and share with first responders throughout the country.
The FCC has yet to act on the petition, although the commission is accepting comments on its own proposal of what to do with the 24 megahertz of spectrum already reserved for public safety in the 700 MHz band.
Upton has previously criticized the Cyren proposal. It has also received a thumbs down from wireless trade association CTIA.
The spectrum Cyren Call wants is mandated by Congress to be auctioned by January 2008. Cyren envisions a public-private partnership with commercial operators that would underwrite network-infrastructure deployment in exchange for leveraging the 700 MHz band for wireless business opportunities. First responders and others would have preferential access to the 30-megahertz block during emergencies, but would otherwise occupy a very small portion of network capacity to satisfy day-to-day public-safety requirements.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the 60 megahertz at 700 MHz—including the 30 megahertz requested by Cyren Call—could generate between $10 billion and $15 billion for the U.S. Treasury. Some of the anticipated auction receipts already have been earmarked for a variety of programs, including $1 billion for public-safety communications interoperability.
