Rivada Ready to Step in If D-Block Auction Fails
The FCC’s likely failure to find a bidder for the 700 MHz D-block to build a national public safety broadband network may mark the end of a flawed concept, said John Kneuer of Rivada Networks. Rivada and other system integrators believe the preferred solution would be public safety operations riding on existing networks in a variety of bands, the former NTIA administrator said in an interview.
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“It makes the assumption that there needs to be a new network,” Kneuer said of the D-block. “The question should be, and the focus should be, what is the capability that public safety needs? Define the capability and put it out there and then determine whether or not that capability can be provided with a combination of existing networks.” FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said repeatedly that he will confer with other commissioners before deciding whether to reauction the D-block as a national public safety network, perhaps with a lower reserve price and relaxed buildout demands.
Kneuer said Rivada and rivals see a business in meeting public safety’s needs without a 700 MHz set aside. “There will be lots of people coming forward saying ‘our requirements are this,'” he said. “We can meet them with a combination of existing networks, buildout in some geographic areas where there may not be commercial coverage, a suite of deployables for survivability and priority access.” Some safety entities already are talking with Rivada, feeling they can’t wait for the years-long process of building out a stand-alone public safety network.
Kneuer cited the Louisiana Army National Guard, which last year said it would deploy Rivada technology. The company is not saying which commercial network the Guard will use or even which spectrum it will use. “The commercial market forces that drive investment in these networks overwhelm anything that the government can do in building a competing network,” Kneuer said. “Even if you waved the magic wand and D-block suddenly became a success, you're looking at one company trying to build out a new network in competition with existing networks that have something like half a trillion dollars in embedded infrastructure… You're just always going to have an inferior network.”