APCO Sees 4.9 GHz as a Wi-Fi Band, Different From FirstNet; Changes Seen Likely on Rules for the Band
LAS VEGAS -- APCO still views the 50 MHz 4.9 GHz band as important and will fight to keep it mostly for public safety agencies but is prepared to allow some use by critical infrastructure agencies, said Jeff Cohen, chief counsel of the organization, at the association's meeting Monday. APCO filed comments on the latest Further NPRM on the topic, approved 5-0 in March (see 1803220037), which broached the possibility that the band would be opened for commercial use.
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APCO doesn’t plan to file reply comments, Cohen said. Replies were due at the FCC Monday in docket 07-100 but weren’t posted by our deadline. In comments last month, New York City and others asked the FCC to preserve the 4.9 GHz band for public safety use (see 1807060019). “Why is it important?” Cohen asked during a presentation. “We use it for mission-critical communications. It’s uniquely suited for broadband communications.” The band isn't replaced by FirstNet, similar to a carrier network, but is ideal for Wi-Fi, he said.
“The carriers want us to use Wi-Fi all the time,” Cohen said. “They don’t want us streaming video all the time over their networks. We don’t want to strain FirstNet like that either.” Cohen told us it’s difficult to predict what the FCC will do on the 4.9 GHz band. “We’re just working with everyone within the commission to explain public safety’s need for the band,” he said.
“My strong sense is that the FCC opens it up,” said a former FCC spectrum official. “It’s worth a reminder that both 4.9 and 5.9 GHz bands were allocated to public safety and Department of Transportation respectively in the last century. Yet, neither public safety nor the auto companies have made use of its band; both bands are effectively fallow.”
A lawyer with carrier clients said providers are reluctant to ask the FCC to reallocate the band, since all are courting public safety clients. FirstNet partner AT&T and Verizon are two of the major sponsors of this week’s APCO conference.
“My guess is that the FCC will want to see real interest from others in the band that is worth the fight,” said Kalpak Gude, president of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance.
The FCC is “taking a broad view,” said Mark Crosby, president of the Enterprise Wireless Alliance. “There’s a disagreement, depending on who you talk to, whether public safety has used this band to the level that people anticipate it or the level that they should.” Crosby predicted the FCC will expand who can use the band, consistent with the regulator’s emphasis on more sharing. “Will the FCC probably keep the status quo?” he asked. “I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s the trend right now. I don’t think that’s the policy right now.”
“The driving force in the 4.9 GHz proceeding is and will be the underutilization, a vacuum of use the FCC abhors,” said Jamie Barnett, former chief of the FCC Public Safety Bureau, now at Venable. “With nearly 90,000 potential public safety entities who could apply for licenses, only 3.5 percent actually have licenses.”
The band has a “Catch-22,” Barnett told us. “Since there is so little use, the equipment and applications are more expensive or are out of reach to potential users,” he said. “The FCC will want to make a market for use in this band, and they want to free up the spectrum. To do that, they may cut the baby in half, aggregating channels as the public safety community has suggested, but allowing more nonpublic safety uses to encourage commercial development, raise usage and bring down the costs, he said.