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Security Beat
Public Safety Spectrum Auction a Bust for FCC
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By Stew Magnuson
The demise of analog television broadcasts was supposed to be a boon for public safety agencies that clamored for years for new space on the radio spectrum to call their own.
In 2009, all television broadcasts will convert to digital signals. That opened up five blocks of spectrum that the Federal Communications Commission put up for auction in February. The D Block was reserved for companies who would use the valuable space to provide services to police, fire and other public safety agencies. The vision was to bring first responders into the digital age with better communication devices such as wireless broadband access.
Unfortunately, the FCC only received one bid, which was less than half of the $1.3 billion it was expecting. That did not meet its reserve price, and the D Block remains unsold.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said at a press conference that the commission will have to “reevaluate” the plan.
Juan Deaton, a cellular systems engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory, and an expert on public safety communications, said the other blocks sold at the auction may be adequate to serve the public safety communities.
If an operator wins the C block and specific licenses for A and B, it probably will have enough spectrum for a nationwide market to serve commercial customers and police and fire departments, he said.
Potential bidders may have seen the requirement that the winner work with the Public Safety Spectrum Trust as too costly, he said. The trust is the non-profit license holder of the D Block that would guide the construction and deployment of the broadband network and ensure that it meets the needs of the public safety community.
“Due to the technical prowess of the wireless industry and economic factors, it’s likely that first responders, even though they might not like it, may eventually end up on public wireless networks rather than their own networks to achieve nationwide interoperability,” Deaton said.
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