Aug 1, 2008 9:45 AM, By Donny Jackson

Myriad ideas and alternatives to the FCC’s public-private partnership model for building a nationwide broadband network for public safety were offered during a four-hour hearing this week, reinforcing questions whether the commission will be able to pass rules regarding the 700 MHz D Block this year.

Commissioners and witnesses generally agreed that a public-private partnership model provides the greatest potential for delivering broadband applications to public safety, given the fact that Congress has provided no indication that federal funding for such an endeavor will be available. However, opinions differed considerably regarding the best structure for such a partnership.

Even within the public-safety panel, there were differences. New York City Fire Chief Salvatore Cassano and Charles Dowd, deputy chief in the New York City police department, said the FCC’s previous notion of a nationwide license should be scrapped. Instead, they recommended that the public-safety broadband spectrum be given to public-safety agencies to build mission-critical voice and data networks that would be responsive to local needs and not be compromised to meet the economic needs of a commercial partner.

While such an approach could work in areas like New York City that can generate significant tax revenue to build their own systems, it would not work as well in less populous regions, said Robert Gurss, director of legal and government affairs for the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).

“I think it’s going to be extremely difficult to build the infrastructure for the relatively small numbers at issue [in rural areas],” Gurss said. “If it’s a national network with a commercial element to it … I think that builds a better economic case for that.”

On several occasions, FCC commissioners questioned whether public-safety agencies would subscribe to a national broadband network if it was built—something Cassano and Dowd openly doubted New York City would do. But Steve Proctor, executive director of the Utah Communications Agency Network (UCAN), noted that UCAN faced similar questions when it was started but has grown from 4000 users to 20,000 users during the last seven years.

“If this [broadband] service were available and if one agency purchased it and was satisfied with it, it would sell itself to other agencies,” Proctor said. “I think it’s that way with most public-safety services.”

Gurss echoed this sentiment, noting the financial limitations of many public-safety agencies to build private broadband networks.

“For a lot of them, the option is not, ‘Use this network or build our own.’ It is, ‘Use this network or not do anything,’” Gurss said. “For many, that will be their only option.”

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