Some Public Safety Groups Report Progress on 700 MHz D-Block Plan
Many questions remain about what form their final plan will take following a meeting Thursday sponsored by APCO and eight other public safety organizations on the future of the 700 MHz D-block. The groups said in a news release that they agreed to petition Congress to reallocate the D-block, creating a single 20 MHz block of broadband spectrum for use by public safety. They also agreed on the need for “sustainable funding for the operations of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust,” which is expected to play a big role in any plan. Among key questions is where the money would come from to pay for a network and what role the PSST will play.
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The group said attendees also agreed on Thursday to support approval of waiver requests filed at the FCC for use of the spectrum by areas that want to get a jump on a national network. This has been a key area of controversy with New York and other major systems ready to build out on their own. The group also agreed on “general approaches regarding levels of service, roaming access, licensing and technical requirements,” a written statement said.
Public safety and FCC officials said that without further guidance from the commission on the future of the D-block, unlikely before Julius Genachowski is confirmed as chairman, the group will have difficulty finalizing their proposal. Acting Chairman Michael Copps has indicated a final decision will likely be made under Genachowski.
George Rice, APCO executive director, said in an interview Friday that there’s a “pause on” at the FCC because of the change in leadership there and in the administration as a whole. “I would agree that Commissioner Copps has definitely signaled, somewhat formally, somewhat informally as well, that he will keep the pause button on, until things are settled and Julius is there,” Rice said. “In the meantime, our intent is to, as much as we can, continue to play a role, continue to coordinate, to reach consensus so that when specific decisions are made the group is ready to act.”
Rice said there was general agreement Thursday on such issues as the need for public safety to be able to preempt the system in times of emergency. “There’s no difference of opinion on that at all,” he said. “Our conversation was a bit more on a macro level yesterday, so we didn’t speak so much about exactly how that would happen.” Rice said the group also agrees the PSST must play a major role, though details of how that would work are unclear. “The PSST holds the license and our planning is focused around that reality,” he said.
“This second forum offered excellent continuity for the discussion held on April 20,” said APCO President-Elect Richard Mirgon, the meeting’s moderator. “Participants built on the successes of the previous meeting, advanced the consensus approach, and are now poised to further these highly productive conversations.”
Groups attending the meeting were the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Major County Sheriffs’ Association, the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, the National Emergency Management Association and the National Sheriffs’ Association. As was the case in an earlier meeting, the National Emergency Number Association was not asked to attend.