Public Safety Mobilizes in Support of D-Block

APCO President Greg Riddle issued an urgent, early morning call to action for APCO members to contact their represenatives and senators, asking them to oppose give-backs of 700 MHz Narrowband spectrum and support D-Block allocation with sufficient funding in two bills that are currently on the two respective floors. 

The Public Safety Alliance (PSA) issued the same call to action, urging Public Safety advocates and personnel to reach out to their friends, family, and colleagues as well. 

A payroll-tax bill, H.R. 3630 was introduced last Friday on the House floor including language that would reallocate the 700 MHz D-Block.  The bill also included $5-$6.5 billion in funding for the deployment of the first nationwide dedicated Public Safety LTE network.

This same bill unfortunately also calls for Public Safety to give back its 700 MHz narrowbnand spectrum to the FCC within coming years, and has a questionable governance model according to many Public Safety spokespeople.  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wrote a letter to House Commerce Committee and Senate Commerce Committee leadership in support of the governance model in S. 911, sponsored by Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).  The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee last week with a 17-6 vote.

According to a Dec. 8th PSA press release, this legislation marks the completion of one of the last unmet recommendations of the 9/11 Commission from more than 10 years ago.  It is possible that D-block legislation could become a standalone bill in the House, but most expect the language to be inserted into an appropriations or payroll tax bill. 

Although the outcome is uncertain, now is the time for the Public Safety community to make a push on their legislators to support them by fulfilling this recommendation, ten years in the making.

D-Block: Phoenix Center Study Shows Benefits

The Phoenix Center, a think tank that includes former FCC staff and leading telecommunications academics, released the findings of their study on assigning the D-Block to Public Safety.  According to the Public Safety Alliance press release, the report shows that the allocation would produce $3.4 billion more in social benefit than putting it up for commercial auction.  This is a great tipper in the debate over the D-Block question, because it will significantly contribute to deficit reduction.  Most of the value comes from the opportunity to create an exclusive 20 MHz block of spectrum for use by Public Safety.  The analysis finds that frequencies are more valuable in the hands of Public Safety agencies than commercial radio, to a great extent.  The reduced cost of deploying a robust network makes D-Block allocation "economically rational," according to the release.

The study is a great follow-up to an extensive analysis of the possible regulation conducted by the Obama Administration, which alsoc oncluded that Congress should allocate the spectrum block to Public Safety.  The legislation, S. 28; The Public Safety Wireless and Innovation Act of 2011, has already been introduced by Senator John "Jay" Rockefeller, IV, Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.  A similar proposal, H.R. 607; Broadband for First Responders, has been brought to the House by Congressman Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

See the text of the report here.