Proposed Bill Would Give D Block Back to Public Safety
Public safety groups are circulating a legislative proposal on Capitol Hill that would take the D block off the auction block at the FCC and ask Congress to pay for building an interoperable network. Some congressional offices said they've reviewed the proposal but they haven’t taken a position yet. Some offices heavily involved in public safety said they hadn’t seen the proposal. Verizon Wireless strongly backs the principle of giving spectrum back to public safety, General Counsel Steven Zipperstein told Virginia public safety officials Thursday. “Our message has been consistent,” he told us. “Public safety ought to be able to control its own destiny.”
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The proposal suggests that the FCC adopt rules giving the paired spectrum bands of 758-763 MHz and 788-793 MHz to the public safety broadband licensee that holds spectrum in the 763-768 MHz and 793-798 MHz bands. The licensee would be allowed to use the spectrum to build a public safety broadband network for use by first responders, “through leases or other means,” according to the proposal. The licensee would be allowed to enter into network-sharing and infrastructure agreements with commercial and non-profit entities to build the network, as long as public safety has priority access to the network.
The legislation also would need to provide “a means of fully funding the reasonable operating expenses incurred by the national public safety licensee and coordinating the establishment of the nationwide public safety broadband network,” the proposal says. Building out the network would cost an estimated $10-15 billion if partnerships are allowed.
Public safety “ought to be able to control its destiny by having complete ownership, and be free to partner on a regional and local basis with anyone it chooses, smaller players and other players, as well as others in industry,” Zipperstein told us, saying he spoken publicly about this several times over the past six months. He said he was encouraged by Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech this month to the International Association of Chiefs of Police endorsing the idea of giving the D block back to public safety. The association said Holder’s remarks signal support for action on the public safety network.
The FCC has made no decision (CD Oct 21 p2) but has been gathering information. “All the main players” agree on giving back the spectrum, Zipperstein said. “We've called upon Congress to do that. Everybody is very focused on the problem.” He was referring to comments at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing in September that aired several ideas for getting back to work on a nationwide interoperable network. No consensus on an approach emerged from the hearing. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., endorsed a public-private partnership.
Funding the network remains a quandary. Aides for lawmakers said Congress probably won’t be eager to spend money on the project after expensive health care and economic recovery legislation. The question of cost came up at the hearing, Zipperstein said. He said some have proposed that Congress fund a public safety network in a new stimulus package. “We already have multiple competing networks” on local and regional levels that could be part of the effort, he said. “This is not construction of a brand new network. It’s a matter of filling in the doughnut holes.” Zipperstein said he hopes the matter will keep the attention it has on the Hill. “We are in a period where the time is ripe to change the law.”