Outlook Unclear for Public Safety Legislation Despite Jobs Bill, 9/11 Anniversary

The Jobs Bill reiterates the administration’s support for voluntary incentive auctions of broadcast spectrum and proposes $10 billion for a public safety network. According to the White House’s latest numbers, the auction would bring in $18 billion to pay down the deficit. “The President is calling for a deficit reducing plan to deploy high-speed wireless services to at least 98 percent of Americans, including those in more remote rural communities, while freeing up spectrum through incentive auctions, spurring innovation, and creating a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public safety,” according to the short version of the bill released by the White House (http://xrl.us/bmcxk3).

The full legislation (only an outline was available Friday) is expected to be released this week, said Internet Innovation Alliance co-Chairman Jamal Simmons during a press call Friday. Based on a briefing paper put out by the White House, the plan follows the model in S-911, sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, including the reallocation of the D-block, said Henry Rivera, former FCC commissioner and strategic counsel to the IIA. Voluntary incentive auctions would raise money to pay for the network, Rivera said. But the issue with relying on auctions is that it takes many years to ensure technology hurdles are dealt with before the spectrum can be repurposed, he said.

Last week, with the 9/11 anniversary approaching, public safety ramped up its campaign to win the 700 MHz D-block for a national wireless broadband network. The group has sharpened its focus on members of the deficit super committee and was to meet with several of them Friday. The country is “entering a very difficult weekend,” and it’s “downright shocking” that public safety still lacks a nationwide network ten years after 9/11, said San Jose, Calif., Police Chief Chris Moore at a press conference Friday.

Public safety had meetings scheduled Friday with super committee members Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Dave Camp, R-Mich., Moore said. Moore believes the super committee will address public safety spectrum, he said: “It’s inescapable.” The idea is to educate those members who may be “less aware” of the public safety spectrum issue, he said. Public safety will “use whatever methodology, whatever path that it takes to achieve the objective for public safety,” including the super committee process, Moore said. Moore said he was off to meet with the staff of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., immediately following the press conference.

Public safety hopes to have legislation passed in late September or early October, Moore said at the press conference. He acknowledged that public safety still has to convince House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications Subcommittee Chair Greg Walden, R-Ore., who still support a commercial auction of the D-block. But Moore sees some “common ground,” he said. There’s agreement on the need for strong governance, but there remains disagreement on the details, Moore said. Members are getting closer to agreement on the amount of funding for the network, he said, but the D-block remains a “fundamental disagreement."

Public safety wants the D-block, adequate funding and a governance structure for the network that “sufficiently represents states and locals,” Moore said. It’s “outrageous” that public safety communications have not improved in ten years to address problems felt on 9/11, said Deputy Chief Charles Dowd of the New York City Police Department. It’s especially important in light of the White House’s warning of a possible threat this weekend in New York and Washington, Dowd said.

Communications problems during natural disasters this year have demonstrated the need for the new network, public safety officials said. Following the recent east coast earthquake, “the systems overloaded ... because we don’t have sufficient spectrum,” said Mark Marshall, police chief in Smithfield, Va., and the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Public safety communications have also been overwhelmed in the ongoing Texas wildfires, said Al Gillespie, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The recent events have shown that “commercial systems are overloaded in times of need,” he said.

"It’s difficult to predict what Congress will do and who knows what Congress will face,” said a public safety official Friday who didn’t attend the press conference. “There are a few things that are certain -- we need to generate revenues and reduce expenses. To the extent that spectrum generates revenue I assume that spectrum auctions will be considered.” The official warned that legislation has become bogged down in the fight over whether public safety will get the D-block on top of the spectrum it already has. “There exists today the potential for not only 10 MHz in the public safety broadband allocation for broadband purposes, but ultimately, if there is a need for additional spectrum, public safety has 24 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band. That factor has to be looked at carefully, closely."

Jeff Silva, analyst at Medley Global Advisors, said the outlook for public safety legislation remains unclear. “President Obama’s inclusion of incentive auction/D-block public-safety reallocation legislation in his jobs plan further raises the profile of the measure and could bolster its chances in Congress,” Silva said Friday. “However, key House Republican support for auctioning the D-block, broadcast industry pushback and 2012 election-cycle politics generally could still complicate matters. Republicans, who've been quick to characterize Obama’s proposal as another costly stimulus package and who've rejected what they characterize as an all-or-nothing approach by the president, have little incentive to pass a sweeping jobs bill and give the president a big victory as he begins his re-election bid.”

"I think this has a much better chance in the jobs bill than in the super committee,” said Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld. “Even if the result was net positive for revenue, the public safety network simply did not fit in a bill that was strictly about cutting spending and raising money. By contrast, the jobs bill is all about infrastructure build out, not debt reduction. This D-block/Public Safety/Incentive Auction proposal also has bipartisan support in the House and Senate, so it seems a natural for inclusion in the jobs bill."

Michael Copps, who was a member of the FCC when the attacks occurred, said action is overdue. “This weekend reminds us of the horror our country experienced 10 years ago, and I am sure we will all be thinking about that during the next few days,” Copps said Friday. “But this anniversary is also a sober reminder that much remains to be done to keep our country safe, especially regarding communications. It’s not acceptable that our nation doesn’t have an interoperable broadband public safety network yet. I hope we can mobilize this week-end’s remembrances into positive action to get that job done. That’s the most effective way I can think of to honor those who gave their all on 9/11."

Various wireless industry groups and companies put out statements Friday in reaction to the Jobs Bill.

"We appreciate President Obama’s continued support for incentive spectrum auctions,” said CTIA President Steve Largent. “Reallocating government spectrum below 3 GHz is as important as the efforts to pass incentive auction legislation. As third-party experts have noted, when the U.S. wireless industry has spectrum, we have an overall positive impact on our nation’s economy by investing billions in infrastructure and creating jobs.” AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi said quick action is critical. “Additional spectrum is not only essential for the wireless industry, it is the lifeblood for hundreds of millions of wireless customers,” he said. “Moreover, there is urgency to this measure because any spectrum released will still take many years to reach the market.”