FCC gives go-ahead on piecemeal public safety network construction

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for 21 states, cities and counties to build out public safety networks using 10 MHz of spectrum granted to the public safety community in 1997.

The plan for that spectrum has been to create a nationwide interoperable network, and the waivers were granted under the condition that the state, county or city networks would be interoperable. In keeping with that goal, the FCC also said waiver recipients should use long-term evolution technology for their networks.

Some members of the public safety community have argued that the existing 10 MHz of spectrum is not sufficient for their needs and have argued that they should also be granted the additional 10 MHz of spectrum in the D-block that is currently scheduled for a commercial auction. But although the new development might appear to be a capitulation on the part of public safety, that’s not the case.

Chief Harlan McEwen, chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust, told Connected Planet he has been assured that it would not be difficult for waiver recipients to upgrade their networks to also use the D-block spectrum if the D-block were to become available to them. The PSST is the license-holder for the 10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum currently in the hands of public safety.

“We’re looking to work cooperatively with the applicants to move this forward as quickly as possible,” McEwen said.

The FCC has said it wants public safety to be able to have access to commercial 700 MHz networks on a priority access and roaming basis to provide additional capacity during emergency situations. But critics — including Andrew Seybold, president of the consulting firm with the same name — have argued that under the current plan, public safety would require additional capacity on a daily basis in large metro areas.

Asked about several large cities — including New York — that are among the waiver recipients, Seybold told Connected Planet, “Public safety has to learn the differences between what they’ve been building and smart broadband networks. They’re not going to put the whole city on the new network. They will build it out and start using it and hopefully get additional spectrum.”

Seybold noted that the FCC’s order about the waiver does not require public safety to use part of its spectrum to create guard bands. As a result, he said any D-block operator would have to devote significant spectrum to creating guard bands, minimizing the attractiveness of the D-block to potential bidders. He believes that could bode well for the D-block ultimately being granted to the public safety community.

“If it’s worth less, Congress will have less problem allocating it to public safety,” Seybold said.

In support of the FCC action this week, the National Telecommunications and Information Agency said it would open a third round of broadband stimulus funding dedicated to the waiver recipients. The NTIA said some recipients may not have applied for funding previously because they may have been uncertain whether they had the authority to use the public safety spectrum.

Funding for the new round would come from the $4.7 billion already given to the NTIA to administer. The specific amount available for waiver recipients was not disclosed. Applications for the new funding round will be accepted between June 1 and July 1, 2010.

If some of the costs of building a nationwide public safety network are covered through the broadband stimulus program, perhaps the FCC will revise the $6.5 billion figure it asked Congress for in the National Broadband Plan.