Fire Chief

For better or worse, the fate of the 10-MHz D Block and the proposed public-private partnership that would build a nationwide broadband wireless network for first responders has become a hot topic in our nation‘s capital. The start of the comment period on the FCC‘s latest notice of proposed rulemaking promises to be just the beginning of spirited debate and lobbying on the issue over the next several months.

While most of the wireless industry understandably will be focused on the broadband aspects of this matter, the decisions made also promise to have a significant impact on public-safety narrowband operations in the 700-MHz band — a matter that has received virtually no attention from the mainstream media.

The fact is, the spectral home for the proposed 700-MHz broadband wireless network for public safety is occupied in some parts of the country by narrowband public-safety communications systems. Obviously, before there can be a nationwide broadband network on these airwaves, these incumbent narrowband networks have to be relocated.

If this sounds conceptually similar to 800-MHz rebanding, it is. Thankfully, it should not be as complicated, as there are relatively few agencies that have deployed 700-MHz narrowband systems and they‘ve all been installed recently with fairly new equipment that can be relocated more easily, so the technical issues are not nearly as great.

Still, it has to get done. In its 700-MHz order last summer, the FCC charged the public safety broadband licensee — a designation later given to the Public Safety Spectrum Trust — to devise a relocation plan in conjunction with the commercial D Block winner. Within 30 days after licenses were awarded from the 700-MHz auction, the two entities were supposed to present a relocation plan to the FCC, with the D Block winner agreeing to pay no more than $10 million for narrowband relocation.

Of course, there was no D Block winner in the auction, which means there is no funding source to pay for the relocation of narrowband 700-MHz networks. Meanwhile, the FCC has taken no action to relax the rule requiring narrowband 700 MHz systems to relocate by Feb. 17, 2009, when television broadcasters nationwide also have to vacate the spectrum.

In other words, public-safety agencies with 700-MHz narrowband systems have less than nine months to relocate these networks, but “there is absolutely no assurance that they‘re going to get reimbursed until this is all done,” PSST Chairman Harlin McEwen said during an interview with MRT. Indeed, lawyers for some public safety entities have told their elected officials to be prepared to pay the relocation costs based on the current uncertainty.

McEwen noted that the PSST is responsible for developing a 700-MHz relocation plan, despite the fact that the PSST currently has no source of revenue. Furthermore, McEwen said the PSST‘s initial research indicates that the $10 million figure cited by the FCC will not be enough to reimburse all public safety agencies operating in the band.

While FCC commissioners have hardly mentioned the narrowband-relocation aspect of the 700-MHz band plan, it has not been forgotten. In its NPRM published this week, the FCC asks commenters to provide input on a number of questions regarding narrowband relocation, including whether the $10 million figure is appropriate, whether the D Block winner should provide relocation funds, whether the relocation should occur by Feb. 17, 2009, and whether the PSST should continue to play a role.

In addition, the NPRM asks whether reimbursement — from whatever source — should be provided for systems deployed after Aug. 30, 2007, the FCC‘s previous cutoff date for reimbursement. Extending the deadline would increase the cost of relocation, but not doing so could put an unwanted damper on narrowband deployment plans in the band.

There are legitimate arguments on each of these items. Hopefully, commenters will not get so caught up in the broadband aspects of this debate that the narrowband issues are ignored. The FCC needs to get this right in both areas; otherwise, we face potential delays in the deployment of both narrowband and broadband communications for first responders in this valuable band.