Public safety's existing license of a 10 megahertz swath of the 700 MHz band provides more than enough broadband capacity to first responders except in the worst of emergencies, states a Federal Communications Commission analysis released June 15.

Public safety groups have pushed to receive an additional 10 MHz in the 700 MHz band--the so-called D block--stating that only with the combined 20 MHz can plans for a national interoperable broadband first responder network be realized. The FCC, through its National Broadband Plan, proposes auctioning off the D block to the private sector with the proviso that first responders gain priority access to the D block during emergencies.

The FCC paper argues that the upsides of the commission's broadband plan outweigh the downside of inadequate capacity in the worst of possible scenarios, during which even 30 MHz of capacity would be insufficient without network and spectrum management, it states. Allocating the D block to public safety would diminish private sector interest in developing end user LTE devices compatible with the existing public safety broadband allocation in the 700 MHz band, the report states. Equipment costs would go up.

Innovation in capacity-extending technologies would also slow, the report states. Factors besides spectrum allocation, such as the number of cell sites, the number of sectors per sell and network and spectrum management can affect capacity more than spectrum allocation, according to the report. It suggests that public safety is accustomed to thinking about bandwidth needs based on the spectrum-intensive needs of land mobile radio, rather than LTE cellular technology used for broadband data networks.

Public safety advocates have said they're not against private sector utilization of the D block, however; they simply want the license to guarantee first responder access to the spectrum. "It's not the dual use, it's the control of the spectrum," Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials President Richard Mirgon told FierceGovernmentIT in an earlier interview.

Public and private sector advocates will face off on the issue June 17 at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on communications, technology, and the Internet.

The committee chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is circulating draft legislation that would maintain current FCC D block plans but directs the commission to "to take all actions" necessary to establish an interoperable public safety broadband network in the 700MHz band.

For more:
- read the FCC paper, "The Public Safety Nationwide Interoperable Broadband Network: A New Model for Capacity, Performance and Cost" (.pdf)
- see Waxman's draft legislation a public safety wireless broadband network (.pdf) and a House Energy and Commerce staff briefing memo on the upcoming June 17 hearing (.pdf)

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