It had been widely expected that the $1.2 trillion package produced by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee) would have included spectrum auctions and funded the creation of a 700 MHz public safety broadband network (PSBN). But on Tuesday, with the committee's formal announcment that an agreement could not be reached, hopes to use that package as a vehicle for the spectrum legislation were dashed.  This is the second time that spectrum legislation has failed to pass as part of a larger package; the first was the debt ceiling bill passed earlier this year. 

Several legislative vehicles are now being considered, including an omnibus apppropriations bill to fund the government for the remainder of FY12, or individual appropriations bills.  In the meantime, standalone bills will be proceeding under "regular order" in both the Senate and the House.

In the House, the Energy and Commerce Committee has been working on a revision of the Republican draft released in July.  With the failure of the Super Committee, the committee may resume consideration of the bill, with possible mark-up in December.  

In the Senate, S. 911 was passed by the Commerce Committee but has yet to be scheduled for a Floor vote. 

Throughout the deliberations of the Super Committee and now going forward, UTC has continued to carry its message to key congressional staff and Members about the public policy, operational, and monetary benefits that utilities bring to the table as partners in the construction and operations of the PSBN. Our main focus has been to ensure that utilities can share the 700 MHz spectrum and access the network notwithstanding Section 337 of the Communications Act and that State or regional partnership agreements between public safety and utilities, including terms related to traffic management, be given federal recognition.

The creation of the PSBN is on the priority list of both Sen. Rockefeller, chair of the Commerce Committee, and Rep. Upton, chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee.  Final enactment, whether as part of a larger package or as standalone legislation, is anticipated in the near term.     

In the wake of massive consumer complaints about the performance of carrier networks in the aftermath of Tuesday's 5.9 earthquake in Virginia, Admiral Jamie Barnett, Chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau stated that the bureau is contacting wireless carriers and public safety call centers to determine the "cause of reported outages in an immediate effort to identify and address the problems." TR Daily reported that Adm. Barnett said the Commission "[was] very concerned by incidents where emergency wireless calls to 9-1-1 after yesterday's earthquake were hampered by network congestion. Thankfully, there have been no reports thus far about serious injuries or lives lost. Nevertheless, these are the moments when mobile phone service is needed most - and disruptions put lives at risk.”

Representatives from the public safety community seized on the issue to urge Congress to address pending legislation that would reallocate the 700 MHz D-block for public safety. "The events of today once again prove how powerful the argument for dedicated spectrum is for public safety, and becomes so understandable for those today that tried to reach their loved ones by wireless devices and could not do so," said APCO International spokesman Sean Kirkendall in a statement issued earlier this week. APCO’s statement was echoed by Charles Dowd, deputy chief of the New York Police Department, who said "Yesterday's earthquake again highlighted the need for a dedicated nationwide PS broadband network,” adding that “[f]irst responders need mission critical communications that assure the public the level of life saving services they rightfully have come to expect."

Currently, this legislation has been stalled over the debate on whether to auction off the 700 MHz D-block spectrum or directly allocate it to public safety. Furthermore, the cost of building out the network is another matter of contention. UTC recognizes the challenges facing emergency communications response, and supports the creation of a nationwide interoperable public safety network. Additionally, utilities actively support public safety needs on regional and local levels through shared networks, and UTC has been promoting to Congress the merits of encouraging utility partnerships with public safety in building out the proposed 700 MHz public safety broadband network. A partnership between utilities and public safety would boost emergency response and significantly lower the cost of building out this network. UTC will continue to keep its members posted on developments to this legislation.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its much anticipated report on the estimated cost of S911, the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act of 2011, and the report concludes that the bill would reduce net direct spending by $6.5 billion over the 2012-2021 period. Proponents of the bill had predicted that the bill would reduce the deficit by $10 billion. This $3.5 billion shortfall could jeopardize the prospects for passage of the bill in its current form, because the bill is being considered as possibly part of the debt ceiling deal that is being developed by the President and Congress. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have circulated a discussion draft version of the bill, which is different from the S911 in several respects – including not reallocating the 700 MHz D-Block for Public Safety. House Republicans favor auctioning the 700 MHz D-block to help reduce the national debt. Read more »

Today, the White House held a meeting of government officials, public safety and industry stakeholders – including UTC – regarding the need to construct a nationwide public safety broadband network. In conjunction with the meeting, the White House released a report "detailing the Administration’s effort to develop and deploy a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network." The meeting also featured Vice President Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D.), and New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Also invited were public safety, state and local and industry representatives. Read more »

By a vote of 21-4, the Senate Commerce Committee approved an amended version of S. 911, a bill that would allocate the 700 MHz D block to establish a nationwide interoperable broadband network for use for public safety. Sixteen of eighty amendments proposed prior to the mark-up on Wednesday were adopted in the final version. Staff will attempt to iron out differences between the version introduced by Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and John McCain (R-AZ) and the version approved by the Senate Commerce Committee before sending the bill to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to schedule Floor consideration. Timing for full Senate consideration is uncertain given the limited amount of time available on the Senate calendar, although Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) emphasized that he has made passage of this bill before September 11, 2011 his number one priority.

Of note to utilities, the bill as passed includes several provisions which address the concerns that would have had the potential to limit opportunities for utilities to partner with public safety in the construction and operations of the network: 1) The requirement for backwards compatibility with 2G and 3G networks has been modified to situations "where such capabilities are necessary and technically and economically reasonable;" and 2) the network should leverage existing commercial "or other communications infrastructure" in its build-out. However, the retention of priority access for public safety still remains. Read more »

While the Senate Commerce Committee is expected to approve a bill allocating the 700 MHz D block to public safety on June 8, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has only just begun consideration of the issue, holding the first of four hearings on Wednesday, May 25, 2011.   

Witness at the hearing included representatives from the ARRL (ham radio), Motorola, Harris, Direction (representing commercial interests), Telephone and Data Systems, and the Public Safety Alliance (PSA).  Read more »

Following closely on the heels of the release of a joint bipartison draft by Senate Commerce last week, Sens. McCain and Lieberman have reintroduced the "Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011" to allocate (rather than auction) the 700 MHz D Block spectrum to public safety for the creation of a nationwide public safety broadband network.  A mark-up of the Senate Commerce draft bill, originally scheduled for May 25, has been postponed until the week of June 6th.  

Both bills dictate that public safety retain priority access, a virtual nonstarter for utilities and other critical infrastructure who may be considering a partnership with public safety in the network build-out and operations because their communications could be preempted during emergencies.  While provisions would allow non-public safety entities  to access the spectrum and the network on a fee basis, the requirements for backward compatibiity with 2G and 3G networks and for roaming onto and interoperability with commercial networks also work to effectively preclude utility participation. 

UTC continues to stress the benefits of allowing utility involvement: 1) UTC's communications spending study soon to be released indicates  that utilities will invest more than $3B in 2011 on communications related infrastructure and equipment, monies which could be leveraged to help defray the costs of the PS network; 2) Utilities as network users would expand the potential equipment market, bringing down costs; 3) Utilities would more rapidly build-out coverage to rural areas; and 4) Utility use would mean greater spectrum efficiency.  Read more »

At a March 30th hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee on the need for a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network, William Carrow, President of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officers (APCO) recognized the important role of utilities in emergency response.  Based on his experience in Delaware, Carrow stated that their statewide public safety radio system for mutual aid assistance includes local utilities in the event of major disasters like the three snowstorms that hit his state this year.  "They [utilities] become at many times more 'first responder' than we are.  If you don't have electricity and you don't have the wherewithal to get the job done, we have to rely on them." 

Rep. Pete King, chair of the committee, has introduced legislation to allocate the 700 MHz D-block to public safety to be combined with the original 10 MHz in the 700 MHz band given to public safety to create a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network.  Chairman King referenced a recent study by the Phoenix Center that contends that $3.4 billion could be saved by assigning the  D block to public safety, rather than auction.  The Phoenix  Center is a 501(c)(3) organization funded in part by the major commercial service providers.   

Allocation of the D-block to public safety has been gaining momentum, with the White House, DHS, and most recently, the 9/11 Commission chair and vice chair adding their endorsement at a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee yesterday. 

Joining Carrow at the witness table was Gregory Simay with the Burbank Water and Power Company and At-Large Director on the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communication Systems Authority  (LARICS).  That system enables interoperable communications throughout Los Angeles County.  He cautioned that the allocation of the 700 MHz spectrum is a good first step, but until the 700 MHz network supports voice, UHF systems will still be needed for interoperability.   (HR 607 would require all public safety systems to migrate to the 700 MHz band, giving up their UHF spectrum for auction by the FCC.) 

UTC was in attendance at the first meeting of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s Emergency Response Interoperability Council Public Safety Advisory Committee (ERIC PSAC) held this week which mainly dealt with organizational issues. During the meeting, the ERIC PSAC formed working groups in four main areas and assigned representatives and chairs to each of the WG's. Read more »