Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Public Safety Still Waits For Post-9/11 Spectrum Windfall

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 10:38:15 -0400

Public Safety Still Waits For Post-9/11 Spectrum Windfall

Jun 18, 2003

The alarm and urgency attached to changing U.S. policies covering the allocation
of radio spectrum for public safety operators following the 9/11 terrorist attacks
likely convinced many that changes would come rapidly. However, the continued
failure to allocate compatible frequencies for police agencies, firefighters and
other first-responder groups across the local, state and federal levels shows just
how difficult making this change will be.

Late this past week, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
conducted a hearing on the progress in solving the radio interoperability problems
for public safety agencies since 9/11. "Nothing ever moves as quickly as anybody
would like it to," Robert Gurss, director of legal and government affairs for the
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO) tells
Wireless Data News. "Certainly the events of 9/11 have brought to light problems
that have existed long before that-- about both interoperability and, what people
forget is there's not enough capacity for internal systems in many areas let alone
not being able to talk to your neighbors because of interoperability."

In addition to enabling voice contact between multiple agencies, allocating
additional spectrum for public safety would help enable more wireless data
transmissions such as maps and photos, e-mail, fingerprint records and other
report-filing tasks.

Also this past week, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation also related to
clearing up airwaves needed by government agencies or to be made available for
commercial purposes. H.R. 1320, introduced by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and
approved by a vote of 408 to 10 the, would allow the government to sell to
commercial operators spectrum in the 1710 MHz-1750 MHz band currently used by
federal agencies, with the proceeds held in a trust fund to cover the costs of
moving those agencies to other spectrum frequencies.
Congress also wants to know why Phased 2 enhanced 911 isn't a reality in the vast
majority of U.S. markets, but it also is considering legislation (S.1250)
introduced by Sens. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to prevent
states from misallocating E-911 funds (WDN, May 7).

The bandwidth public-safety agencies need to have interoperability are in the 700
MHz and 800 MHz swaths. Identifying the property, however, is easier than clearing
it. The desired 747 MHz-762 MHz and 777 MHz-792 MHz bands are occupied by TV
broadcasters, who are in no hurry to vacate the properties. As part of the U.S.
transition to digital television, broadcasters in those frequencies have until the
end of 2006 to vacate their spectrum. However, they must move only if 85 percent
of the TV households in their markets have digital televisions (WDN, May 10,
2000).

APCO isn't holding its breath. "That's going to be many, many years from now,"
says Gurss, who is of counsel to the Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth law firm in
Washington, D.C. However, some members of Congress don't want to keep public
safety out of the 700 MHz band any longer than necessary. At its recent hearing,
the House Telecommunications Subcommittee also discussed H.R. 1425, introduced by
Rep Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and co-sponsored by 28 of her colleagues to set a fixed
deadline.

The bill remains at the subcommittee, and it has not been scheduled for a vote. 
"It's a long battle because there's a lot of issues, in terms of the broadcasters
who are impacted giving up that spectrum before they want to," Gurss observes.
"It's not an easy fight, but I think the hearing was definitely a step forward. It
got some real important attention to the issue."

APCO, of course, also is paying attention to the Federal Communications
Commission's consideration of a proposal it backs to allocate spectrum in the 800
MHz band to public safety (WT Docket 02-55). The proposal would consolidate
public-safety systems in the 800 MHz band and would re-tune private wireless
operations within that band or grant them twice as much bandwidth if they move to
the 900 MHz band, using frequencies Nextel Communications [Nasdaq: NXTL] would
relinquish (WDN, April 9). However, most of the commercial wireless industry
outside of Nextel vehemently opposes it.

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