Verizon Wireless Presents Public Safety Plan to Governors
After denying for months that it had a proposal for building a shared but dedicated public-safety data network using 12 of the 24 MHz available in the 700 MHz band for public safety, Verizon Wireless advocated that approach in filings with the Southern Governors Assn. (SGA) last month. Verizon Wireless urged the SGA to adopt a plan using a “dedicated” public safety data network “paid for and operated by the public sector but which leverages existing commercial infrastructure” to reduce costs and provide priority access to commercial networks during emergencies.
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The network would be a “network of networks,” licensed to a nationwide operator that would work with each state, Verizon said. “The states should have the primary role of building the networks to ensure they meet the specific needs,” it said: “A national licensee can also facilitate use of the networks by federal agencies, which are critical partners during times of emergency.”
The network would use off-the-shelf technologies, and deployment costs would be reduced 1/3 over 10 years because the towers, back-up generators, and backhaul facilities could be shared with a commercial operator, said Verizon Wireless. The sharing also would reduce building time by 2-1/2 years, it said.
A senior executive with Verizon denied the existence of the proposal in Feb. (CD Feb 13 p2). “There is no proposal,” Verizon Exec. Vp Tom Tauke told reporters. “We have talked in general terms” about interoperability “but we have no proposal.”
Tauke’s denial followed denials by Verizon Wireless spokespersons of widely reported meetings between Verizon Wireless attorney Nancy Victory and Gen. Counsel Steve Zipperstein and public safety representatives advocating the shared network. The FCC proposed a plan similar to Verizon Wireless’s SGA concept in Dec. (CD Dec 21 p7). A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman said the SGA filings, complete with a PowerPoint presentation, don’t constitute a plan but rather “contemplate” the FCC proposal. “The attachments are illustrative, but are not a ‘plan,'” she said. The FCC is expected to consider some rules for the upcoming auction of 700 MHz spectrum at its April 25 meeting but to punt most issues to a further notice of proposed rulemaking (CD April 10 p5).
Verizon Wireless used its SGA comments to continue its active lobbying against Cyren Call’s proposal to set up a Public Safety Broadband Trust that would use 30 MHz of spectrum, designated for commercial purposes, for a network designed and controlled by public safety but allowing sharing with commercial operators. “We do not believe that such a network is financially viable,” said Verizon Wireless. Competition among wireless carriers and technologies has led to lower costs and better services, it said: “This competitive framework has encouraged companies to invest many billions of dollars… These investments would not have been made if wireless companies had to yield important business decisions and the control of their networks to someone else.”
The SGA is set to make a decision within the next couple of weeks, after deciding in Feb. to tackle public safety interoperability, a spokeswoman told us. When the SGA solicited comments on the issue it didn’t limit them to the 700 MHz band - but commenters apparently did. All major players in the 700 MHz debate participated, many trading barbs about the same issues being hashed out at the FCC.