Giving 700 MHz D Block Directly to Public Safety Likely Needs a Law
AT&T and Verizon are in agreement that the 700 MHz D- block should be allocated to public safety rather than offered at auction a second time. To make that happen would take an act of Congress, public safety and wireless industry officials said Tuesday. The plan is raising concern among public safety groups and outright opposition by small carriers who see the proposal as a way for the two heavyweights to guarantee that the 10 MHz of spectrum doesn’t fall into each other’s or competitors’ hands.
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At CTIA’s annual meeting last week, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg reiterated the company’s support for giving the spectrum directly to public safety during a keynote (CD April 2 p2). AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi said a day later that his company agreed. Public safety officials said they expect the companies to reach out to the national groups representing first responders to look for their support as well. New York City and a few other large areas have asked the FCC for direct access to the 700 MHz spectrum, but that stance put then at odds with APCO, the National Emergency Number Association and other national players on first responder communications.
The FCC was expected to approve a second auction of the D-block late last year under former Chairman Kevin Martin, but never did so. It is likely to re-engage on the issue after Julius Genachowski is approved as chairman. The agency could offer the national 10 MHz spectrum block once again with strings attached, requiring the winning bidder to build a public-private network in cooperation with public safety. Or the commission could offer the spectrum purely for commercial use. It can’t not auction the D-block without congressional action.
“The incumbent providers are pushing the commission to reconsider how the D-block license is issued,” said Jessica Zufolo, analyst with Medley Global Advisors. “As the incumbents talk about how there is greater demand for more spectrum the argument to remove the D-block from a reauction … is interesting.” Zufolo sees a “reasonable chance” Congress would go along, she said. “Congress is very concerned about the issue of interoperability.”
“The net-net is if there’s a reallocation of the D-block it has to be through an act of Congress, it can’t be done by the FCC,” said a public safety source. “The FCC could consider making a recommendation to Congress to reallocate that spectrum … However they're going to have to figure out how that money would be compensated to the Treasury and how they're going to pay to build that public safety broadband network.”
“To do what AT&T and Verizon are advocating requires congressional action,” said a second public safety official. “It doesn’t make any difference what the FCC wants to do or not.”
A lawyer who represents small carriers said the proposal would “shut the door” on their hopes that more 700 MHz spectrum will be made available by the FCC. “This comes at the very same time that large carriers oppose expanded automatic roaming obligations for data services,” the attorney said. “There is an anti-competitive ring to these positions and the result is a denial of roaming services to consumers and a devaluing of the service offerings of small carriers.”