More Spectrum for Public Safety in Rockefeller, McCain-Lieberman Bills
Public safety would get the 700 MHz D-block under major new bills unveiled separately Tuesday by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz. The latter bill is similar to a House one (HR-5081) introduced a few months ago by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. On a conference call with reporters, senior FCC officials welcomed the Rockefeller bill, even though it clashes with the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation that the band be sold at auction. An agency spokeswoman declined to comment on the McCain-Lieberman legislation.
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Rockefeller’s bill will be introduced in “coming days” and would hand public safety an extra 10 MHz of spectrum, he said Wednesday. The bill would also authorize incentive auctions, as urged by the broadband Plan, and provide part of the proceeds to public safety to help fund a nationwide, interoperable wireless broadband network. The legislation builds on the White House spectrum policy plan unveiled last month, by giving the FCC authority to hold incentive auctions, Rockefeller said. “This proposal will not require the return of spectrum from existing commercial users, but will instead provide them with a voluntary opportunity to realize a portion of auction revenues if they wish to facilitate putting spectrum to new and productive uses,” he said. “By providing authority for incentive auctions, this legislation will offer a revenue stream to assist public safety with the construction and development of their network."
Rockefeller didn’t specify whether the 10 MHz for public safety referred to the 700 MHz D-block, but a Senate staffer told us it did. Senior FCC officials said they weren’t sure about it because they had only read the news release. They called the senator’s announcement “fantastic news” and a “big win for public safety and America.” The FCC is reviewing the news but believes Congress has authority to decide what to do with the D-Block, a senior commission official said. The incentive auctions potentially would cover much more spectrum than the 10 MHz that would have been auctioned in a D-block auction, the official noted. The commission officials spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity on a call organized by the FCC.
McCain and Lieberman touted the introduction of their bill Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill, surrounded by fire, police and emergency management representatives from the Public Safety Alliance. Allocating spectrum to public safety is the only recommendation of the 9/11 Commission that has yet to be implemented in some way, McCain said. “How many times do we have to see the inability to respond hampered by special interests -- and I'll give you some straight talk -- the broadcasters,” he said. If the D-block spectrum is auctioned, the public will never get it back, McCain said.
The bill envisions paying for the public safety network by auctioning the AWS-3 band. There would be no need to raise taxes to pay for public safety network, APCO President Richard Mirgon said at the event. Fire and police officials emphasized their solidarity behind the bill. “We can’t wait in line,” said Jeff Johnson, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
"We haven’t seen the Rockefeller bill at this point,” Mirgon said in an interview. “I was in talking with him this morning. He is committed to supporting public safety on the D-block allocation and to finding a way to help find funding. We have seen the draft of the Lieberman-McCain bill and we are satisfied with that, that’s a good bill, a lot of good language. It’s a good starting point.” Mirgon said members he has spoken with have been “very positive” that legislation “could move very quickly.” He declined to comment on FCC reaction to the Rockefeller bill. “I've got a meeting with Chairman [Julius] Genachowski tomorrow and I have no preconceived idea of what that discussion is going to do. I felt it has been a good relationship with the chairman and we've just had a professional disagreement."
Verizon Wireless backed the Rockefeller proposal. Its “approach brings to life President Obama’s goal of harnessing 500 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband innovation through open and non-discriminatory auctions, while carving out a small portion -- just two percent of the total -- to meet public safety’s needs,” said General Counsel Steve Zipperstein.
Congress now has several overlapping bills on incentive auctions and the public safety network pending. Besides the bills by Rockefeller, McCain-Lieberman and King, Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have introduced a bill to authorize incentive auctions, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., has a bill in the works to set up voluntary auctions, and House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is drafting a bill to authorize a commercial auction of the D-block.