Public safety is poised to gain its much-coveted control over a 10 Megahertz swath of spectrum known as the D block as well as $7.23 billion for the creation and implementation of a national broadband network under language included in a payroll tax holiday extension approved Feb. 17 by the House and the Senate. The bill (H.R. 3630) also authorizes $115 million in grants for implementation of Next Generation 9-1-1, a system that will allow the public to send multimedia messages to emergency call centers.

The bill would permit the Federal Communications Commission to mount incentive auctions of spectrum held by the private sector and require public safety to give up its licenses in the 470-512 MHz band within 9 years for FCC auction. Up to about $7.5 billion of auction proceeds would go toward public safety wireless and NG 9-1-1 efforts.

The bill would establish within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration a "First Responder Network Authority" that would hold license to the D block and other public safety broadband spectrum (public safety already holds the license to another 10 MHz swath within the 700 MHz band). Senate and House conferees agreed to strip the final bill of language that would have created a public safety wireless "corporation," although bill supporters say the authority appears to retain all the relevant powers a corporation would have had.

The authority would be able to borrow $2 billion from the Treasury immediately to begin construction of the broadband network, to be repaid from a $7 billion fund of incentive auction proceeds.

The authority would also be able to borrow $135 million for state and local broadband network implementation grants, to be paid for with additional incentive auction proceeds.

In addition, the National Institute of Standards and Technology would receive $100 million for wireless public safety research and development. At this point, the bill directs that the next $20.4 billion of federal spectrum auction revenue be spent on deficit reduction; if auctions produce additional revenue after the first $27.635 billion, the bill authorizes $115 million for NG 9-1-1 grants, and then another $200 million for NIST for additional public safety wireless research and development.

NG 9-1-1 grants would be overseen by the NTIA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nationwide adoption of NG 9-1-1 is estimated to cost between $1.44 billion and $2.68 billion over 10 years, according to a September 2011 FCC estimate.

For more:
- go to the THOMAS page for H.R. 3630

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First responder broadband network should use unlicensed spectrum, says paper 
NG9-1-1 to cost between $1.44B and $2.68B, says FCC