During a workshop of the Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperabilty at the Federal Communications Commission this week, Matt Schnell, Supervisor of Telecommunications at Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) explained that utilities and public safety have been able to successfully share a VHF radio system with the state of Nebraska. He explained how NPPD implemented security through a "private path" on the utility side of the network with firewalls on all customer touch points. His main point was that interoperability was a process, as well as a technical issue. "Teamwork has been critical to the success of the shared network," His full remarks, as well as those of the other panelists during the workshop are available via streaming video from the FCC Live website.

Your utility could be sitting on an untapped infrastructural resource. Wireless collocation sites, if developed and structured correctly, can boost national broadband and emergency response network build-outs. The popular 'Utility Forum' session at the Annual Utilities Joint Use and Wireless Collocation Summit is attracting industry experts and new entrants that seek to take advantage of this strategic business opportunity. "U.S. utilities operate in different regulated environments," explains Pacific Gas and Electric's (PG&E) Eric Jacobson, one of the speakers on the panel. Tim Gasser from Puget Sound Energy (PSE), who is also on the panel, says, "There are wide-ranging differences between what each utility does. For example, PSE allows collocation on transmission, distribution and streetlight structures, as well as carrier owned monopoles on substation properties."

"Other utilities do a lot of wireless collocation," Gasser adds, "but they limit it to transmission only, or towers on raw land sites. There are differences on raw land sites as well, with some companies building and owning the towers and others allowing the carrier to build and own the structures – it all depends on what each utility is comfortable with." The panel will be looking into such aspects of the collocation business, using examples and case-studies of successful models. Read more »

Representatives from the public safety community noted that they are interested in partnering with utilities on the 700 MHz Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN). Speaking at last week's IWCE (International Wireless Communications Expo) in Las Vegas, Harlin McEwen, Chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST), stated "[w]e want interoperability with [utilities]," and “[w]e also want their money to support it." He and other public safety leaders agreed that the $7 billion Congress reserved for construction of a nationwide public safety broadband network is not enough to fund the construction costs of the entire network. Due to the cost, the public safety representatives agreed that it is crucial for public safety to form partnerships with industry entities, including non-traditional first responders such as utilities, to construct, maintain and operate the network and help fund it. McEwen stated that the provisions in the bill regarding access to the network by these entities are "a little confusing," but that the bill would apparently allow agencies to lease access to the network to utilities and others on a secondary basis which could help fund construction and maintenance of the system.

Richard Mirgon, former president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) added, “It’s time to make sure we that we start looking at what’s best for America, and the utilities are part of what’s best, because nobody operates without power, water, natural gas, you name it. The utilities have a need to be a part of this, and we have to do due diligence in this process as the FirstNet governing board creates these rules on how to do secondary use.”

The Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum (JOBS) Act, passed by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications last week, has been rolled into a House Republican bill unveiled today to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits into 2012. The JOBS Act, introduced by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), includes provisions for non-public safety entities to access the 700 MHz public safety broadband network - a key issue for utilities. The legislation allocates the spectrum to public safety agencies, but would require first responders to give back another the 14 MHz of narrowband spectrum they are currently using. It would set aside about $6.5 billion for that network. House and Senate committee staff are already working to iron out differences between the JOBS Act and S. 911, passed by the Senate Commerce Committee last July. Those differences concern the governance structure, amount of funding for network construction, maintenance and operations and the public safety narrowband spectrum reallocation. A Senate staffer noted that the House and Senate are close to agreement. UTC is working with committee staff to ensure that utilities are provided an opportunity to partner with public safety in the network buildout and operations.

The House Subcommittee on Communications of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a mark-up of spectrum legislation introduced by Rep. Walden (R-OR) which includes provisions for non-public safety entities to access the 700 MHz public safety broadband network - a key issue for utilities. The bill, entitled the "Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum Act of 2011" or the "JOBS Act of 2011," provides that each State may negotiate with private sector entities to construct, manage, maintain and operate the network. Furthermore, the private sector partners could be allowed under contract to access the network to provide services that are not "public safety services," as well as to share infrastructure (including antennas and towers) with public safety entities. In addition, the bill provides that the Administrator of the National Public Safety Communications Plan may contract with non-public safety entities to permit access in order to promote interoperability between those non-public safety entities and public safety entities during emergencies.
Thus, there are effectively two options for utilities and other non-public safety entities to access the 700 MHz public safety broadband network (i.e. through partnership or contract), but there are conditions. Read more »

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.

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 »