The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has taken a first step toward re-auctioning a band of spectrum that failed to sell in the 700MHz auctions that ended in March.
The FCC on Wednesday voted to ask for public comments on how to re-auction the D block, a 10MHz piece of spectrum that commissioners had wanted to pair with another 10MHz controlled by public-safety agencies. The FCC would have required the winner of the D block to build a nationwide wireless voice and data network to be shared by public-safety agencies and commercial users, but the agency failed to receive the minimum $1.3 billion bid it wanted.
The agency raised several questions about the D block in the notice of proposed rulemaking approved Wednesday. Commissioners asked whether it was still appropriate to keep the public/private partnership, in which the spectrum winner would have worked with the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST), a coalition of 15 public-safety groups that controls the second 10MHz block that would have been paired with the D block.
The FCC's notice also asks for ideas on how to auction the D block if it's not paired with the public-safety spectrum.
The FCC also asked the public what fees are appropriate for a combined network. Some advocacy groups criticized the PSST and advisor Cyren Call for suggesting they want an annual $50 million lease payment from the D block's winner in exchange for use of their 10MHz. The FCC also asked whether for-profit organizations should be involved with the PSST.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin said he still supports the concept of a public/private partnerships, but he was pleased that the notice "turns a critical eye on the specific parameters of the partnership, and ways to ensure the commercial viability of this endeavor by providing greater certainty to all parties involved."
The FCC needs to deal with the public-safety spectrum issue "thoughtfully and quickly," Martin added.
The D-block auction was watched closely because many U.S. lawmakers and public-safety officials pushed for a nationwide network to be created after many emergency responders couldn't communicate with each other during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Police and fire departments in neighboring cities often use different communication devices on different blocks of spectrum and a nationwide network for them has been a top priority of the FCC and several lawmakers.
Commissioner Michael Copps raised concerns there are "daunting technical issues" that need to be addressed with the public-safety network, but the FCC hasn't appointed a technical advisory council to help with that task.
The best solution for public safety agencies would be a network funded by the U.S. Congress, but the cost takes that option off the table, added Copps, a Democrat.
"In the seven years since 9/11, three years since Hurricane Katrina, and one year since we began the most recent auction of the 700MHz spectrum band, we have learned two hard and disappointing lessons," Copps said. "First, that America desperately needs to improve the communications tools available to its heroic first responders. And, second, that achieving this task is not going to be easy."
Bids for the 700MHz spectrum totaled $19.6 billion. The D block received one bid for $472 million.
Many telecom experts see the 700MHz spectrum, which U.S. television stations are required to abandon by February 2009, as optimal for long-range wireless broadband services. Wireless signals in the 700MHz band travel three to four times farther and penetrate obstacles such as buildings more easily than wireless signals in higher-spectrum bands.
The FCC on Wednesday voted to ask for public comments on how to re-auction the D block, a 10MHz piece of spectrum that commissioners had wanted to pair with another 10MHz controlled by public-safety agencies. The FCC would have required the winner of the D block to build a nationwide wireless voice and data network to be shared by public-safety agencies and commercial users, but the agency failed to receive the minimum $1.3 billion bid it wanted.
The agency raised several questions about the D block in the notice of proposed rulemaking approved Wednesday. Commissioners asked whether it was still appropriate to keep the public/private partnership, in which the spectrum winner would have worked with the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST), a coalition of 15 public-safety groups that controls the second 10MHz block that would have been paired with the D block.
The FCC's notice also asks for ideas on how to auction the D block if it's not paired with the public-safety spectrum.
The FCC also asked the public what fees are appropriate for a combined network. Some advocacy groups criticized the PSST and advisor Cyren Call for suggesting they want an annual $50 million lease payment from the D block's winner in exchange for use of their 10MHz. The FCC also asked whether for-profit organizations should be involved with the PSST.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin said he still supports the concept of a public/private partnerships, but he was pleased that the notice "turns a critical eye on the specific parameters of the partnership, and ways to ensure the commercial viability of this endeavor by providing greater certainty to all parties involved."
The FCC needs to deal with the public-safety spectrum issue "thoughtfully and quickly," Martin added.
The D-block auction was watched closely because many U.S. lawmakers and public-safety officials pushed for a nationwide network to be created after many emergency responders couldn't communicate with each other during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Police and fire departments in neighboring cities often use different communication devices on different blocks of spectrum and a nationwide network for them has been a top priority of the FCC and several lawmakers.
Commissioner Michael Copps raised concerns there are "daunting technical issues" that need to be addressed with the public-safety network, but the FCC hasn't appointed a technical advisory council to help with that task.
The best solution for public safety agencies would be a network funded by the U.S. Congress, but the cost takes that option off the table, added Copps, a Democrat.
"In the seven years since 9/11, three years since Hurricane Katrina, and one year since we began the most recent auction of the 700MHz spectrum band, we have learned two hard and disappointing lessons," Copps said. "First, that America desperately needs to improve the communications tools available to its heroic first responders. And, second, that achieving this task is not going to be easy."
Bids for the 700MHz spectrum totaled $19.6 billion. The D block received one bid for $472 million.
Many telecom experts see the 700MHz spectrum, which U.S. television stations are required to abandon by February 2009, as optimal for long-range wireless broadband services. Wireless signals in the 700MHz band travel three to four times farther and penetrate obstacles such as buildings more easily than wireless signals in higher-spectrum bands.
Last edited by a moderator: