Proposed Senate legislation to allocate a 10 Megahertz swath of 700 MHZ band spectrum known as the D block to public safety--and pay for creation of national public safety broadband network through spectrum auctions--would save the government on balance $6.5 billion over a decade, the Congressional Budget Office says.

In a spending analysis of S. 911, a bill introduced by Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) that passed the committee on June 8, the CBO assumes that auctions of 95 MHz held primarily by the Defense Department and licenses returned by television stations (in exchange for a cut of the proceeds) would generate $24.46 billion in net receipts.

That amount is lower than some had anticipated; the CBO assumes that spectrum auctions would generate about 70 cents per MHz per person.

The analysis also assumes the D block has a value of $2.75 billion, and that a Public Safety Broadband Corp. created by the bill would spend $11.5 billion from 2012 to 2021 on building a nationwide wireless broadband network.

Operating costs of the corporation would exceed income by about $1 billion over a period from 2012 to 2021, the CBO also says.

For more:
- download the CBO analysis of S. 911 (.pdf)
- go to the THOMAS page for S. 911

Related Articles:
D block reallocation bill clears Senate committee
House hearing on D block turns testy
White House supports D block reallocation to public safety