NENA Proposes Two New Options for Future of 700 MHz D-Block
National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes Wednesday proposed two alternative plans for the 700 MHz D- block in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. In the wake of the failed D-block auction, various public safety groups, supported by AT&T and Verizon Wireless, have instead urged the FCC to petition Congress to change the law so that the spectrum can be given directly to public safety to use, bypassing another auction. Fontes suggested that an auction remains a viable alternative.
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Fontes met with Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett Wednesday to discuss the future of the D-block. Barnett is scheduled to meet with reporters Thursday, and the D-block is likely to be a major topic of questions.
The D block “was then, and still is, a viable option to create a public safety/commercial partnership for the provisioning of a broadband network available to public safety,” Fontes wrote. “The continued delay in addressing the failed D Block auction, the increased needs by public safety that could be addressed by broadband and the potential availability of Federal broadband grants for public safety add to the challenges the new Commission faces. It is important that all approaches be carefully and promptly reviewed, especially when the issue concerns the future of 911 and emergency communications as we move into the broadband, IP-enabled, 21st century world of communications.”
NENA offered two new proposals for the D-block. First, the broadband spectrum in the 700 MHZ band could be leased as a 10 MHz block to the winner of a new D block auction “with the terms and conditions of the lease specified prior to the auction,” the letter said. Another alternative would be reallocating the 10 MHz public safety 700 MHz broadband block to commercial use to be paired with the current D block to make a nationwide, 20 MHz commercial block that would be “auctioned with conditions ensuring public safety access to the network and secured, recurring funding for public safety.”
NENA said as part of either plan at least half the auction revenue should be deposited into a Public Safety Broadband Trust account, to be administered by the Public Safety Spectrum Trust or another administrator selected by the commission. Key public safety requirements would be identified prior to the auction so a potential bidder could factor these requirements into a bid, it said. Public safety would receive “significantly favorable terms and conditions for access to and use of the 20 MHz nationwide 700 MHz broadband network” to be clearly spelled out prior to the auction. NENA also said the plan should take into account ongoing costs of paying for a public safety network. “In addition to the one-time deposit from the auction revenues, there must be a recurring source of funding to pay for access to and use of the network by public safety agencies,” the letter said. “If the public safety broadband spectrum is leased, then the recurring source of revenue could be part of the leasing arrangement. If the spectrum is reallocated to commercial use, then other sources of funding would need to be addressed prior to the auction. The Commission must address the funding issue.”
“We were very explicit in the letter,” Fontes said in an interview. “We make no comment regarding the proposals to reallocate the D-block to public safety, nor do we make any comment on the waivers that are currently pending before the FCC. … The commission currently has three options before it. It could revisit the D-block auction and try to make that partnership work or there are two additional options that we presented in this proposal today. It’s only in the context of the public safety-commercial partnership that these comments are filed.”
Harlin McEwen, chairman of the PSST, said he was still reviewing the proposal which he had just received late Wednesday.