700 MHz Waiver Requests on Hold as FCC Pushes for Spectrum Bill
The FCC has put off action on more than 30 waiver requests from local governments that have proposed public safety networks using 700 MHz spectrum (CD Sept 15 p1). Some officials at the FCC and industry say the reluctance to grant the waivers appears tied to the desire of Chairman Julius Genachowski not to muddy the waters as Congress pushes forward on broader spectrum legislation, which addresses a national wireless network for public safety.
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Oklahoma has been the most active in pushing the FCC to approve its waiver application. The state recently warned the FCC it has put in place $150 million in funding for a public safety network, but the funding is at risk unless the FCC acts on its waiver (CD Feb 2 p3). Last week, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., also a waiver applicant, told the FCC they have put together funding for a public safety network (http://xrl.us/bmrmph). They emphasized “the urgency in granting the pending waivers so as not to jeopardize existing and future funding.” The state of Texas was the only waiver applicant approved after the first round of approvals in May 2010.
"It seems unusual, given the pace of approval of the first 21 jurisdictions that applied for waivers, that now, all of a sudden, it has slowed down to a glacial pace,” said an FCC official. “Asking whether this abrupt slowdown has something to do with the public safety component of the incentive auction legislation is only prudent.” Agency and industry officials said the outlook for legislation remains questionable, while some jurisdictions are telling the FCC they are ready to move if a waiver is granted.
Robert LeGrande, former Washington, D.C., chief technology officer, said the FCC needs to address the waivers quickly. “While there has been hard work by all involved in the process, the fact that the first city-wide public safety 700 MHz wireless broadband network was launched in Washington, D.C., eight years ago and that we have not deployed another network since is problematic,” LeGrande said Friday. “I appreciate the need to move cautiously; however the waiver jurisdictions have demonstrated a firm commitment to ensure nation-wide interoperability and this ongoing hard work and investment should be promoted and not held up.”
Genachowski has made spectrum legislation a top goal for 2012, said a telecom industry analyst. “I can see where the FCC might want to withhold action on public safety 700 MHz waiver requests sheerly out of an abundance of caution,” the analyst said. “Even though regulatory delay might inconvenience some public safety agencies, spectrum repurposing is so big and important ... to the chairman, and his legacy, that his staff might want to avoid taking any steps without knowing final legislative language to avoid future snafus potentially arising from waiver grants.”
"If they're trying to get something through the Hill on spectrum, the last thing you want to do is muddy it up with the grant of waivers,” a public safety official said. “I see that as probably their priority, doing something with the Hill.”
Seattle CTO Bill Schrier, who chairs a group representing the 700 MHz waiver recipients, said he did not have any special insights on why the FCC has been slow to act on other applicants. He said the first round of waivers was approved in May 2010, as NTIA was reviewing applications for Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grants and reopened the application window just for the 21 waiver recipients.
"At that point in May 2010, when the original 21 waivers were granted, there was nothing going on in Congress regarding re-allocation of the D block to public safety, sale of spectrum, or funding the nationwide network,” Schrier said. “Many of us are building networks or contemplating how we would build under our waiver authority. In making decisions about design, numbering plan, procurements and similar matters, we have been keenly aware that we are the ’tip of the spear’ -- the vanguard of local governments who need and want this high-speed, fourth-generation wireless broadband capability for our first responders. We've tried to make sure our designs will be expandable to accommodate hundreds of local networks and make them seamlessly interoperable."
Asked about the waivers, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said his “number one priority has and continues to be to allocate the D-block to public safety and to ensure that there is sufficient funding and spectrum for the construction of an interoperable public safety broadband network.” King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is “optimistic that strong spectrum legislation that benefits public safety will be forthcoming in the current conference negotiations,” he said.