ICERT: Giving FirstNet Control of 4.9 GHz Would Be Gift to AT&T
The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) opposed a wave of filings by public safety groups urging that the FCC consider giving FirstNet control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2402150058), as promoted by the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance…
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(see 2401190067). “Many of these filings are form letters that were, presumably, encouraged by the PSSA, FirstNet, AT&T, and their supporters,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 07-100. FirstNet’s network is “fully owned by AT&T and integrated into its commercial network,” iCERT said. “AT&T’s contract with FirstNet requires it to provide priority access to the spectrum for public safety users but allows AT&T to use the band to serve commercial users as well.” Turning over the band to FirstNet would also be anticompetitive, iCERT contended: “AT&T competes with a variety of national, regional, and local wireless providers to serve both public safety and commercial users. A grant of the PSSA proposal is, effectively, a grant of free spectrum to AT&T.”