In a de facto endorsement, the Assn. of Public Safety Communicati...

at auction -- the gist of the Cyren Cell proposal (CD Aug 9 p 4). The Cyren Call idea offers a “viable framework” for getting more 700 MHz spectrum for public safety, APCO said. An APCO endorsement has been a priority for Cyren Call, launched by Nextel co-founder Morgan O'Brien. Wireless carriers want the spectrum auctioned as planned and are lobbying against the Cyren Call plan. APCO said the 24 MHz of spectrum designated for public safety in the DTV transition “is insufficient to meet public safety’s future requirements… Therefore, APCO International supports reallocating 30 MHz of spectrum from the 700 MHz band that is currently slated for auction.” The 30 MHz should be assigned to a govt.-created entity using public/private partnerships to build and run a nationwide broadband network addressing public safety communications requirements, APCO said. An auction would “forever place control of the spectrum in the hands of commercial enterprises that do not have public safety as their principal, overriding objective,” it said. O'Brien met with public safety officials on the topic at this week’s APCO conference, he said in a statement. “APCO has long advocated for additional spectrum that will enable effective public safety communications including advanced broadband applications,” O'Brien said: “Such capabilities are widely available to commercial sectors and private citizens in the U.S. but not to the vast majority of our first responders.” - HB