FirstNet, Spectrum, Cybersecurity Among Top Commerce Department Priorities, says Pritzker

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., hailed Pritzker’s private sector experience and said he thought the U.S. has “not had a strong secretary of Commerce in quite a while.” If confirmed, Pritzker would replace Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank, who took over in 2012 after John Bryson took a medical leave of absence last June following reports that he suffered a seizure related to three car accidents.

Rockefeller said the development of the wireless economy is “one crucial area” where the secretary of Commerce must facilitate public-private collaboration. “Expanding the spectrum that’s available for wireless services and relieving the so-called ’spectrum crunch’ will be vital to jobs and growth in the nation in the years to come. At the same time, smart spectrum policy includes protecting vital federal operations. Not all federal operations want to give up any of their spectrum. You will be running into the Department of Defense on that, and good luck. I expect that the Department [of Commerce] will continue to work in close cooperation with federal agencies and the private sector to open up more spectrum to meet our burgeoning spectrum needs.”

Rockefeller urged Pritzker, if confirmed, to press the FirstNet board to speed up the development of the nationwide, interoperable first responder communications network. “Obviously it has some problems. … We haven’t been able to see enough movement,” said Rockefeller. “All I want to know is that, if you are confirmed, that you will set mind, body and soul to FirstNet to working with them, to understanding the problem, to understand why more isn’t happening,” he said. Pritzker said she would work with the FirstNet board “so they understand the need and urgency to implement this as effectively and efficiently as possible.” Recent criticism of the program centered on what some said was the FirstNet board’s lack of consultation with the Public Safety Advisory Committee (CD May 1 p3).

Rockefeller stressed the importance of the Department of Commerce’s role in helping U.S. businesses secure their networks from cyberattacks. Under the president’s cybersecurity executive order, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is tasked with developing an industry-driven cybersecurity framework. Rockefeller added: “For the first time I see a real opportunity of getting a bipartisan cybersecurity bill. It will be a miracle if we do it … but it is the greatest national security threat.” Pritzker said she “absolutely understands” the impact that cyberthreats have on U.S. businesses and explained how one of the companies that she oversees has nearly 4 billion cyberincidents per month. Pritzker said she plans to work closely with NIST, the International Trade Administration and the full Department of Commerce to “make sure that we help develop a cyber framework as NIST has been charged with as well as develop a close working relationship with the business sector to make sure we are addressing the cybersecurity threats.”

Ranking Member John Thune, R-S.D., urged Pritzker to ensure that Commerce makes more federal spectrum available for commercial use. “Should Ms. Pritzker be confirmed I would ask that she focus some of her time and energy to dealing with this issue. Especially with respect to freeing up the 1755-1780 MHz band,” he said. “If we are successful it will ignite a great deal of economic activity across the country, assist in funding a nationwide public safety network and ultimately ease [the] nation’s debt by bringing billions of dollars into the Treasury from the auctioning of this valuable spectrum to the private sector.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., asked Pritzker how she planned to keep “on track” Obama’s goal of freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum for commercial wireless use. He asked specifically how Pritzker would help ensure that federal entities are a “little more responsive in terms of spectrum sharing and trying to make sure we take full opportunity and get full economy-wide value of this public asset.” Pritzker said Commerce has to question whether to “look harder at the various opportunities and spectrum sharing is something that is, I know, high on the priority of the NTIA and something, I know that if I'm confirmed, will continue to look and see how we can find more spectrum that can be made available for commercial use. I appreciate how important it is that we have spectrum available for just the explosion of the wireless world we are all living in.”

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., asked if Pritzker would work to develop more precise estimates about the cost to relocate federal systems from the 1755-1850 MHz band. “There has been some discussion about how accurate the cost estimates have been in regards to spectrum,” Fischer said. “I believe the Defense Department in the past has estimated it would cost $4.6 billion to clear the 1755-1850 [MHz] band and NTIA estimates that it’s going to cost $18 billion. How are we going to have more accurate estimates?” she asked the nominee. Pritzker said she was not “precisely familiar with that particular band” but said she realizes the “importance of trying to make more spectrum available for commercial use. I endorse the endeavor and if confirmed I will push the organization to work carefully to ensure the information is accurate.” NTIA’s preliminary cost estimate to relocate most federal operations off the band would be $18 billion over 10 years, $12.64 billion of which would result from relocating federal military systems, according to the Department of Defense (CD May 8 p3).

A GAO report made public this week revealed that NTIA and the Office of Management and Budget are already taking steps to ensure that agencies improve their cost estimates for the relocation of the 1755-1850 MHz band. Officials interviewed for the report told GAO that they're optimistic that future cost estimates will improve by incorporating pre-auction planning funds to the agencies’ budgets. GAO said the Defense Department’s methodology used to determine its cost estimate to relocate 11 defense systems from the 1755-1850 MHz band “substantially met” the characteristics of reliable cost estimates and “partially met” the accurate and credible characteristics of GAO-identified best practices. The DOD estimate applied appropriate inflation rates, contains no errors in calculating the estimate, and agrees with the historical relocation costs of the band, the report said. GAO did find that some relocation information was incomplete and some documentation was not sufficient to support the estimate, the report said. Pending decisions about which actual systems would be relocated and the timing of the relocation effort could change the estimate, the report said.