New Frontline Plan Said to Require No Legislation
The new national public safety network company Frontline Wireless won’t need legislation to work, instantly differentiating its 700 MHz spectrum plan from Cyren Call’s, said former FCC Chmn. Reed Hundt, part of Frontline’s leadership. The group, a partnership of Hundt, former NTIA Dir. and spectrum player Janice Obuchowski, and Vanguard Cellular founder and former CTIA Chmn. Haynes Griffin, filed a proposal at the Commission Mon. asking it to license 2 small bands in 700 MHz for dual-use by commercial and public-safety groups. The spectrum would still be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder, Hundt said, reconciling both existing law penned by Rep. Barton when he was House Commerce Committee chmn. and the need for more public safety spectrum. Frontline didn’t disclose how much investment it has drawn or how much it projected bidding for the spectrum.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The FCC “shouldn’t slow down” its 700 MHz auction timeline, Hundt said, further tying Frontline’s plan to the current status quo on moving the spectrum. Hundt and Obuchowski said Frontline is aiming its efforts only at the rulemaking before the auction, not at changing the timeline itself or the legislation that created the auction in the first place. They cited the govt.’s need for the money, industry’s need for the spectrum, and public safety’s need for a network. That’s the main difference between Frontline and Cyren Call, Hundt said: “We don’t need legislation… We also don’t need a federal loan.” The plan does need service rules in place to work, because any dual-use group would otherwise likely be outbid by a strictly commercial company. But Hundt said “pretty much every kind of service rule” has been tacked on to auctions in the past in order to meet public policy goals.
Frontline would build its own 4G wireless broadband enabled network, and pay for the buildout with wholesale commercial service mostly intended for roaming. The new company’s filing calls for spectrum bands up to 6.5 MHz right next to both of the pre-set public safety bands, which would, in times of emergency, give precedence to local first responders and other public safety groups. In exchange, Frontline partners would allow commercial use of the true public safety spectrum when it lies fallow. Hundt said this arrangement allows local public safety officials to make their own decisions about equipment, control and technology while having access to a nationwide interoperable network. Such an arrangement is only possible if “the federal government spends billions… or some private entity does a commercial dual- purpose network,” Hundt said.
Griffin is Frontline’s CEO, Obuchowski its chmn. and Hundt its vice-chmn. The group also includes Stagg Newman, former FCC chief technologist, and Hundt said prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist Ram Shriram is at least one key investor. Hundt and Obuchowski held their cards close to the vest on money questions, with Hundt saying the group for strategic reasons won’t disclose most investors names until it is required to do so under FCC rules.
A Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Cyren Call was ominous for that company’s prospects, with members and witnesses expressing skepticism about the plan’s viability (CD Feb 9 p2). Sen. McCain has reportedly crafted a plan that outlines a broadband public safety trust like that proposed by Cyren Call, but senate committee sources said no legislation had been written as of Mon.
Hundt rejected the idea put forth by reporters that the Frontline plan is a “poison pill” designed to kill Cyren Call, which isn’t popular with wireless carriers, saying the business model is the one that makes the most sense. “The idea of going through a gatekeeper [like Cyren Call] is a pretty big inhibitor of innovation,” Obuchowski said. “The plan is not retroactive, it’s proscriptive.”
Meanwhile, comments were due Mon. in an FCC rulemaking on how the agency should help create a national wireless broadband public safety network. The FCC is studying a centralized network using the 12 MHz wideband segment channels -- half of the 24 MHz slated to go to public safety after the DTV transition.
Few comments had arrived by our deadline. A quintet of principles was submitted by the National Public Safety Telecom Council (NPSTC), a key player, including: universal access by all agencies; enough spectrum to guarantee commercial investment and public/private coexistence on a shared data network; a modern network built to public safety standards able to accommodate changing requirements; a governance structure guaranteeing public safety community control and standards; and protection of all critical voice spectrum from interference.
More than 12 MHz is needed, NPTSC said: “It has become increasingly apparent to NPSTC that deployment of a nationwide public safety broadband network is enormously important for emergency responders at all levels of government: local, state and federal. It will be an essential tool for addressing the expanded domestic defense and emergency response obligations of all public safety agencies… We do not believe these attributes can be realized if public safety is limited to the 12 MHz of its existing 700 MHz allocation as proposed.”
The FCC also has proceedings pending on proposed reallocation of 700 MHz guard bands and service rules for 60 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum to be auctioned later this year or in early 2008.