During a recent committee hearing, the Senate Commerce Committee chairman, Sen. Rockefeller (WV), expressed his passionate support for providing public safety (PS) the spectrum its needs to build a nationwide interoperable broadband communications network. His bill, S. 3756, would allocate the 10 Mhz known as the 700 D block (758 – 763 Mhz and 788-793 Mhz) to be combined with that already allocated to PS (763-768 Mhz and 793-788 Mhz) to provide sufficient bandwidth for a nationwide interoperable PS broadband network. Network build-out and on-going operational costs would be provided in part through AWS auction proceeds and incentive auctions of voluntarily relinquished spectrum.

In a significant development, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), ranking Republican on the Committee, joined in support of Rockefeller’s bill, noting her concerns about rural coverage and the challenges of providing PS priority access at affordable rates if the spectrum were auctioned to commercial communications providers as initially planned.

Currently, the FCC has proposed an auction of the airwaves to a commercial service provider, with auction proceeds dedicated to help pay for the creation of a public safety network. The National Broadband Plan issued earlier this year calls for building a national broadband network for public safety agencies using only the 10 MHz megahertz of spectrum already allocated to public safety in the 700 MHz band, but providing priority access to the commercial system in the 700 D block when needed. The FCC would use the proceeds from the D-block auction to address capacity needs

Jamie Barnett, FCC Chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, expressed the FCC’s preference for auctioning the D-block, stating that PS can negotiate roaming and priority preemption on commercial networks for “just compensation” because PS will only need the extra capacity for those “bad days” when the original 10 MHz PS network is overwhelmed.

Annise Parker, Houston Mayor, immediately responded to this assertion, stating that PS needs the highest priority, but wouldn’t be able to afford it based on what commercial providers considered “just compensation”. Jeffrey Johnson, President of the International Association of Fire Chief, added, “Preemption on a network that is down doesn't help PS.”p>

Ken Zdunek, a spectrum and technology consultant hired T-Mobile to do a study on the feasibility of the FCC's proposal, urged Congress to let the commission auction the D-block, saying it would be the best solution for public safety. He explained that allocating the highly-valued spectrum for commercial purposes, combining commercial and public safety networks on a common standard, will work better than a stand-alone public safety network.  Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) concurred, stating that a stand-alone public safety network is not the best solution, it will cost too much and always trail behind the private sector in using the best technology.

PS witnesses underscored the network characteristics they require to support their mission critical functions, including hardened to withstand severe weather conditions, reliable, redundant, support 1-to-1 and 1-to many communications, continue to operate in the event of network failure, back-up capabilities in the event of an entire network loss, and coverage even in the most rural areas. Commercial networks simply don’t meet their requirements, especially in terms of coverage. 

In his closing comments, Senator Rockefeller noted that 71% of West Virginians have no cell service today. "Commercial providers won't put up the towers to provide the coverage,” he said. “Telecommunications companies are not kind to the rural areas because it is not in the interests of their shareholders to be kind.  Sorry, but that's the way it is."

Also this week, meetings have been taking place between PS and Administration officials from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice and the Vice President, on the best way to build the nationwide network. According to NYPD Police Chief Charles Dowd, they, “seem to be moving in our direction” to support the allocation of the D-block to public safety.