NYC, Others Scrambling to Revise 700 MHz Plans After Missing Out on BTOP Grants
New York City, Seattle and others that received FCC waivers in May to build local public safety networks in 700 MHz spectrum, but were left out when the NTIA awarded Broadband Technology Opportunities Program money, told the commission they're re-evaluating what to do next. The NTIA gave grants to Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay area, Mississippi and a few others, but most of the 21 waiver recipients were left empty-handed. Waiver recipients were required by the FCC to provide updates on progress in building systems.
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New York City’s BTOP grant application sought $150 million, the city said. “Unfortunately New York City’s application was not approved for funding. Since the BTOP Grant was considered the primary funding source for this project, New York City is evaluating alternative funding sources.”
The city of Seattle is meeting with vendors and evaluating its options, it said in a filing at the FCC. It said it “does not have a specific timeline at this point.” The San Antonio Urban Area Security Initiative said it’s developing plans for a “smaller scale initial project” after its BTOP application was rejected.
The FCC also received comments this week on a Sept. 15 public notice from the Public Safety Bureau, seeking input on 23 additional applications, which asked for a waiver so they could deploy a public safety system in 700 MHz spectrum, ahead of any national network. Among those seeking waivers were the cities of Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans; Harris County, Texas, Fairfax County, Va., and Florida, Nevada, Maryland, Louisiana and Georgia.
TIA urged “rapid approval of all Waiver Petitions filed in this proceeding and urges the Commission to give public safety the discretion to allow appropriate entities to operate in the 700 MHz public safety broadband network that will further the licensee’s mission.” The FCC should impose the same conditions on these applications as it did on those that got waivers in March, TIA said. “Uniform application of previously-established baselines will enable the Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC) to make the most predictable and effective decisions, benefiting all stakeholders,” the group said.
But T-Mobile said the FCC should hold off on dealing with these and other waiver requests until it completes rulemaking proceedings on “the technical and licensing rules governing public safety use of the 700 MHz band,” including the D-block. Public safety is eager to move forward on using the 700 MHz spectrum, as the waiver requests show, T-Mobile said. But “significant questions remain regarding the future use of the 700 MHz public safety broadband spectrum.”