D Block Update

PUBLIC SAFETY LEADERS PRAISE ADMINISTRATION
SUPPORT FOR REALLOCATION OF 700 MHz D BLOCK

Public safety leaders and a key lawmaker praised the Obama administration today for its decision to push for legislation to reallocate the 700 megahertz band D block to public safety and seek billions of dollars in funding to construct a nationwide public safety broadband network. But the public safety officials stressed that they will continue to work hard to lobby Congress to pass the necessary legislation. For their part, some D-block reauction advocates criticized the administration and public safety groups advocating reallocation.

During a meeting with public safety leaders yesterday, Vice President Biden and other top administration officials announced their plan to support D-block reallocation (TRDaily, Jan. 25). The vice president said the administration would recommend that between $10 billion and $13 billion be appropriated to construct a nationwide public safety network, but he also mentioned that $10.5 billion would be reserved for the network from incentive auctions, according to public safety and industry sources. Administration officials said details of the plan would be announced in the fiscal year 2012 budget request to be released in February.

Other officials at yesterday’s meeting included Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., as well as U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Phil Weiser, senior adviser-technology and innovation for the National Economic Council, the sources said.
During a call with wireless industry representatives today, White House officials said that they would push for $10.5 billion to be dedicated for the public safety network from incentive auctions and for an additional $5 billion in funding to construct the network in rural areas, according to an industry lobbyist on the call. “It was unclear where the $5 billion comes from,” the lobbyist said. Another lobbyist, however, said the officials seemed to infer that the additional $5 billion would also come from incentive auctions.

Overall, there was “not a lot of detail” provided by the White House officials, including how the network would be governed and who would pay to maintain the system, the first source said, adding that the White House officials seemed unable to answer several questions. “It seems like they haven’t fully thought through all the details of this,” the source said.

The goal would be for 98% coverage. The officials also said that excess capacity would likely be available in rural areas and that could be leased to commercial providers, the lobbyists said, but they noted there was little detail on how such public-private partnerships would work. The White House officials on today’s call were Messrs. Chopra and Weiser and U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra.

One of the lobbyists said the White House officials said that the public safety broadband network details were the only part of the National Wireless Initiative - which President Obama referred to in the State of the Union address and was discussed briefly in a White House fact sheet - that they are authorized to discuss (see separate story). They said the full details on the initiative will be in the FY 2012 budget documents. “This is going to be an extremely tough sell to everybody, except public safety,” the lobbyist said.

“I am excited and very pleased that the Administration will be supporting our efforts to have the D Block allocated for public safety along with a funding mechanism to make it possible to implement a nationwide public safety broadband network,” said Harlin McEwen, chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust and a representative of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

“Yesterday was a significant accomplishment for public safety, but it’s not done,” added Richard Mirgon, former president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International. “We still have members of both parties that believe auction is a better cause.” As a result, he added, public safety leaders favoring reallocation will be engaged with Congress “as hard in the future as we have been in the past to make sure we make this a reality.” Members of the Public Safety Alliance plan to next fly to Washington to lobby lawmakers the week of Feb. 7.

Mr. Mirgon noted that also yesterday, Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D., W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, reintroduced a bill (S 28) that would direct the FCC to reallocate the D block to public safety, while providing a funding stream to build a network, and the FCC mandated that long term evolution be the interface for the network. “We’re not done yet, obviously, but we cleared a very huge hurdle,” another public safety official said.

“It’s apparent from the President’s speech last night and the Administration’s extensive engagement with us over the past several months that they understand what public safety has been saying over the last 3 years,” said Charles Dowd, deputy chief of the New York Police Department. “I’m convinced the Administration will now act to deliver to public safety the spectrum and funding needed to build a public safety grade, dedicated broadband network.”

However, Mr. Obama wasn’t as specific in his State of the Union speech as public safety officials had been told that he would be during yesterday’s meeting with administration officials. One source said public safety leaders were informed that the president would mention spectrum reallocation and funding for a public safety network. “Clearly, we had hoped for a little bit more clarity in the president’s speech,” Mr. Mirgon conceded.

Mr. Obama said, “Within the next five years, we’ll make it possible for businesses to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98 percent of all Americans. This isn’t just about . . . faster Internet or fewer dropped calls. It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age. It’s about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers and small business owners will be able to sell their products all over the world. It’s about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device; a student who can take classes with a digital textbook; or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats with her doctor.” The fact sheet also indicated that expanding the next generation of wireless services would benefit first responders.

In response to the administration’s disclosure that it would push for reallocation of the D block, Rob Kenny, a spokesman for the FCC, which has pushed for reauctioning the spectrum, as recommended in the national broadband plan (NBP), said, “Our priority and focus is on the build-out of an interoperable mobile broadband network for America’s first responders. We will continue to support initiatives and policies that foster that goal.”

Rep. Peter T. King (R., N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, praised the Obama administration’s support for D-block reallocation. “This decision is a critical development in our fight to strengthen communications for our nation’s first responders,” he said. “Last year, I introduced bipartisan legislation to reallocate the D Block to public safety to enable first responders to migrate their communications systems to a robust broadband network that will meet their mission-critical and day-to-day voice, video, and data needs. In the 112th Congress, I intend to reintroduce legislation to accomplish this long-sought objective.”
But, as some public safety leaders noted, other key members of Congress favor reauction, including Reps. Fred Upton (R., Mich.) and Greg Walden (R., Ore.), the respective chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its communications and technology subcommittee.

In a statement, T-Mobile USA, Inc., which has advocated a reauction of the D block, criticized APCO, which had blasted T-Mobile in a press release yesterday about its D-block advocacy. “We have worked constructively with APCO in the past and hope to do so again in the future. Regrettably, in their increasingly rash rhetoric on the D-block, they are serving more as a mouthpiece for the two largest wireless carriers and their anti-competitive schemes than as a responsible spokesperson for their public safety constituents,” said T-Mobile, referring to Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Inc., which support D-block reallocation. “ T-Mobile will continue its advocacy for the D-block plan developed by the FCC, the government’s independent expert agency on communications matters, which provides both much needed competition in the wireless marketplace and the surest path to a nationwide public safety network that for the first time would take advantage of modern broadband technologies and commercial economies of scale.”

Steve Berry, president and chief executive officer of the Rural Cellular Association, which has also pushed for a reauction, acknowledged that the administration’s position will make it more difficult for his side. “I think it’s sort of interesting that the administration has essentially reversed position on the broadband plan,” Mr. Berry said. “I still am not convinced that everyone understands the technology.”

Vonya McCann, senior vice president-government affairs for Sprint Nextel Corp., which also supports a reauction, said it “commends President Obama for his leadership in promoting nationwide access to advanced wireless services and working to ensure that our nation's first responders get what they have long needed and deserved, wireless interoperable public safety broadband services. We look forward to working with President Obama, Congress, public safety, and the Federal Communications Commission to bring our nation’s first responders the competitive wireless broadband services that consumers are enjoying today.”

Several lobbyists for entities that have advocated reauction did not respond to requests for comment or said it was premature to weigh in. One noted that the administration had not yet formally announced its plan. But the source said, “I am kind of stunned. . . . I am deeply disappointed if this is the direction the administration is going.”- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com