|
Lawmakers Acknowledge Need for General Funds to Build Public-Safety Network (9/25/09)
By Sandra Wendelken
Congressional members of the House subcommittee on communications, technology and the Internet heard views from the public-safety community and commercial carriers on the best option for the 700 MHz D block spectrum Thursday, with several lawmakers noting general funds might be the only way to ensure buildout of a nationwide public-safety broadband network.
After hearing several proposals for D block options from the seven witnesses, Rep. Rick Boucher, chair of the subcommittee, said none of the options provided full funding for the proposed network. “I’m not sure if any of these proposals derive the revenues necessary to build out this spectrum, especially in rural areas,” said Rep. Boucher. “My thought is at the end of the day we’re going to find ourselves looking at some general fund revenues in order to finance this. I don’t know of another avenue open to us.”
Public-safety groups have worked for the past six months to provide a united front to Congress and the FCC, but the lawmakers summarized four different options they heard from the witness testimony. Those options as summarized by Boucher included:
1. Auction the D block under a public/private partnership model similar to the failed 2008 auction;
2. Auction the D block to a commercial carrier and give the money to public safety for building its network;
3. Give the D block spectrum to public safety to add to its current 10 megahertz of 700 MHz broadband spectrum;
4. Auction all 20 megahertz of 700 MHz broadband spectrum — the 10 megahertz assigned to public safety and the D block 10 megahertz — and use the revenues to build the network, similar to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) proposal.
The witnesses included William Bratton, chief of police in Los Angeles; Harlin R. McEwen, chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST); Brian Fontes, CEO of National Emergency Number Association (NENA); Stacey Black, assistant vice president, market development for AT&T; Joe Hanley, senior vice president of U.S. Cellular; Jason Barbour, 9-1-1 director, Johnson County, N.C.; and Kostas Liopiros, founder of Sun Fire Group.
The witnesses agreed on several points. Regional licensing is a better model than a nationwide license, they told the lawmakers. All the witnesses said standardized equipment based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the best option.
The main theme continued to come back to funding. When asked how much a nationwide broadband network would cost, estimates ranged from $10 billion to $40 billion. McEwen and the commercial carrier representatives said leveraging existing carrier infrastructure would help reduce the cost; however, lawmakers wanted a more defined price tag.
Rep. Anna Eschoo said she didn’t want to begin network buildout and then run out of money. “Around here price tags matter. If there’s going to be a shortfall for half the $40 billion, we need to take that into consideration,” she said. “I can’t believe we don’t know and that there’s a range from $20 billion to 40 billion. We need to plan this better.”
Lawmakers said they understood the need and recognized that eight years after 9/11, an interoperable network is still eluding public safety. “In 1996, the public-safety community indicated it needed a public-safety broadband network,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns. “The need is there; we’ve got to get moving. We’ve got to get the revenue from somewhere, and perhaps general revenue is where we can get it.”
Lawmakers asked what the next step should be. McEwen said the next step should be congressional action on allocating the D block to public safety or moving ahead with an auction as quickly as possible. NENA’s Fontes said the funding decision is most essential. “Ensuring funding is available on a recurring basis is most important,” Fontes said.
Subcommittee members also acknowledged the recently introduced legislation to extend the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) grant program and said they would work to pass the bill.
Your comments are welcome, click here.
Copyright © 2000 - 2010, Pandata Corp., All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy and Legal Statement.
|
