Part of the Obama Administration's plan to bring broadband Internet access to rural areas includes a $10.7 billion effort to create a national broadband network for public-safety agencies, but some telecommunications companies want a piece of that spectrum. "The plan would allocate one type of broadband spectrum, called "D Block," purely for public safety -- firefighters, police officers, ambulance personnel and other first responders," Jonathan Riskind of Maine Today reports for the Kennebec Journal. The administration plans to pay for the public-safety network, along with reducing the deficit by $9.6 billion and providing $5 billion to increase wireless coverage in rural communities, by auctioning off other spectrum segments.
Broadcasters fear they will be penalized if they do not voluntarily allow some of the segments they control to be auctioned to help pay for the plan, Riskind reports. Some companies, including Sprint, T-Mobile and smaller rural carriers, have formed a coalition that argues they should have access to "D Block" to better compete with the nation's largest carriers while partnering with public safety agencies. The coalition, Connect Public Safety Now, says its plan would "help build an efficient wireless network faster and more cost-effectively than" Obama's plan, Riskind writes.
Kevin McGinnis, a communications technology adviser to five national emergency medical-service organizations and a former Maine EMS director, disagrees. The coalition's "real goal has nothing to do with public safety. Their whole point is they want D Block to better compete with AT&T and Verizon. They want D Block because that is prime real estate," he told Riskind. The Obama administration plan, which would have lawmakers change the Federal Communications Commission's current mandate to auction off "D Block," has been met with bipartisan support. Still others, like Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe have reservations. "No amount of spectrum will be effective unless we also address several key areas such as adequate funding for the network, proper planning and governance to build and administer the network, and seamless coverage and interoperability to ensure undisrupted communications," she said. (Read more)
Broadcasters fear they will be penalized if they do not voluntarily allow some of the segments they control to be auctioned to help pay for the plan, Riskind reports. Some companies, including Sprint, T-Mobile and smaller rural carriers, have formed a coalition that argues they should have access to "D Block" to better compete with the nation's largest carriers while partnering with public safety agencies. The coalition, Connect Public Safety Now, says its plan would "help build an efficient wireless network faster and more cost-effectively than" Obama's plan, Riskind writes.
Kevin McGinnis, a communications technology adviser to five national emergency medical-service organizations and a former Maine EMS director, disagrees. The coalition's "real goal has nothing to do with public safety. Their whole point is they want D Block to better compete with AT&T and Verizon. They want D Block because that is prime real estate," he told Riskind. The Obama administration plan, which would have lawmakers change the Federal Communications Commission's current mandate to auction off "D Block," has been met with bipartisan support. Still others, like Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe have reservations. "No amount of spectrum will be effective unless we also address several key areas such as adequate funding for the network, proper planning and governance to build and administer the network, and seamless coverage and interoperability to ensure undisrupted communications," she said. (Read more)
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