AASHTO Urges Decentralized Approach to 4.9 GHz Band Management
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials urged the FCC to adopt a plan for the 4.9 GHz band based on a “decentralized structure,” with the four public safety coordinators serving as band manager. AASHTO representatives relayed this…
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view in a conversation with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington. Opposition to a proposal by the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance to give FirstNet control “is driven partly by a reaction to [the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance] and FirstNet, but also by nervousness about a centralized, powerful band manager,” AASHTO said in a filing last week in docket 07-100. That’s a similar reaction to concerns about an earlier approach where “individual states were deemed to have too much power over the band,” AASHTO said. The FCC overrode that proposal. AASHTO is concerned that an appointed band manager “will have its own business interests and agenda, and these interests would not necessarily align with the multitude of public safety interests,” the group said.