News
Two law-enforcement groups express support for nationwide FirstNet Authority role at 4.9 GHz
Multiple public-safety organizations recently have submitted filings to the FCC about the 4.9 GHz, including two key law-enforcement organizations that expressed support for a proposal that would grant the FirstNet Authority with a nationwide license to the mid-band spectrum.
In a letter dated Feb. 13, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said that public-safety agencies have been “provided priority, preemption and local control” during incidents by the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) and that a similar approach would be effective with 4.9 GHz spectrum.
“As you know, the 4.9 GHz band has never been licensed in a traditional manner and, therefore, the commission and others have expressed concerns that the band has been underutilized,” according to the IACP filing. “However, successfully adapting to the 5G environment will require the public-safety community to greatly expand its utilization of the 4.9 GHz band.
“To that end, the IACP urges the commission to protect and preserve the 4.9 GHz spectrum for public-safety use, protect incumbent public-safety users, assign the spectrum to a single nationwide licensee on behalf of public safety, and leverage the very successful FirstNet experience and assign a nationwide 4.9 GHz license to the FirstNet Authority.”
This position echoes the stance taken by the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA), which has long advocated for the FirstNet Authority to be awarded with a license for the 4.9 GHz spectrum, much as the FirstNet Authority was granted 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum when Congress established the organization in 2012.
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) also expressed support for a nationwide framework in its 4.9 GHz filing, which cautioned against the FCC adopting new rules that would result in a “fractured, patchwork approach that results in different uses of the band depending upon the geographic area, or even upon the licensee within the same geographic area. This decentralized framework has been in place for 20 years, and the band has remained chronically underutilized.”
Such rules could result in commercial entities “cherry-picking” desirable geographic locations to deploy disparate solutions, while much of the U.S. could be left unserved, according the IACP. Instead, the IACP indicates support for integrating 4.9 GHz spectrum with the FirstNet system, although the law-enforcement organization does not expressly call for the FirstNet Authority to receive a nationwide license to the 4.9 GHz band.
“The FOP agrees with the First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet Authority) filing that integrating the 4.9 GHz spectrum into the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) would ‘undoubtedly further the public interest,’” the IACP filing states. “FirstNet has proven it can successfully deploy and operate a nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to America’s public safety.
“Through the FirstNet Authority Board and the FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee, those of us in law enforcement or other public safety disciplines play a direct role in the oversight, governance, and evolution of the FirstNet network. In our view, making the 4.9 GHz spectrum available for nationwide FirstNet 5G deployment is the most expedient and impactful way we can operationalize the 4.9 GHz spectrum.”
Additional support for a “centralized framework” to govern the 4.9 GHz band comes from the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association (Metro)—a group representing the leaders of fire departments that protect more than 150 million U.S. residents. However, the Feb. 13 filing from Metro does not mention FirstNet or the FirstNet Authority.
“We support the Commission’s decision to dedicate the 4.9 GHz band exclusively to public safety, mandating priority, and preemption for these uses over any others and establishing a nationwide framework to fulfill public safety’s increasing demand for dedicated 5G spectrum,” according to the Metro filing.
“A fragmented, inconsistent approach, allowing varied uses based on location or licensee, has proven ineffective. For two decades, this has led to the band’s chronic underutilization due to the absence of a unified strategy and economies of scale, stifling both usage and innovation. The new, centralized framework is essential for maximizing the band’s potential and spurring innovation.”
Of course, this idea of centralizing administration of 4.9 GHz band has not received unanimous support, with the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI)—a new group with members that include public-safety and non-public-safety entities—recently reiterating its opposition to the PSSA proposal.
CERCI’s recent filing with the FCC states that the PSSA proposal represents a loss of local control for public-safety entities, because it would require “local jurisdictions to subscribe to a nationwide network, operated exclusively by a commercial carrier, to access and use the 4.9 GHz band.”
In January 2023, FCC commissioners approved new rules for the 4.9 GHz spectrum. This marked the first action taken by the FCC regarding 4.9 GHz since commissioners halted some short-lived rules—passed near the end of the Donald Trump presidential administration—soon after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
In its new rules, the FCC committed to a framework that would have a single nationwide band manager to coordinate usage of the spectrum, although the agency is seeking comment about how the band manager should be chosen. In addition, the rules call for expanded use of the airwaves beyond the public-safety sector.
While PSSA has proposed that the FirstNet Authority be granted a nationwide license to the 4.9 GHz spectrum, PSSA officials have stated publicly that a different entity—not the FirstNet Authority—would serve as the band manager under its plan.
First item on Fox Radio News this AM: Major AT&T outage across the country. May as well give them this bandwidth too. No sense having a partial outage of public safety! Gonna have to send the officers to the local ham club and get them their Generals, so they can carry a radio that has less whiz-bang and more works-all-the-time!!
I see this as a license grab for under utilized frequencies, to prevent a “use it or lose it” scenario. We must first look at the legislation and stated purpose for which the FCC awarded this 50MHz. swath to public safety. Keep in mind that there is no mobile broadband infrastructure in place to support mobile UE’s on the 4.9GHz. band and it would most likely be cost prohibitive to deploy new tower radios/antennas nationwide in this band nationwide and only receive a 50 MHz. ROI. Qualcomm was looking to support Sidelink mesh for public safety on 4.9 (an FCC intended use case scenario) which was strictly device-device. Qualcomm moved that technology to use current in-band frequencies which would benefit all users. Not to say it would be great to have it in 4.9 for public safety, but it would have to be shared by all users for modem manufacturers to support it in UE devices. My take is that 4.9 GHz. is good for device-device and point-point and may be a refuge for public safety “if” crowded out of the current 6 GHz. band by Wi-Fi . So what does FirstNet want this band for, and realistically what could it be used for? Maybe they want to manage it for point-point and is that within their authority and stated purpose? FirstNet’s original primary purpose with for Interoperability by providing a nationwide PSBN yet we have seen nothing but proprietary solutions and no Interoperability between vendors. 3GPP mission critical protocols do not address Interoperability. 10 plus years now beyond FirstNet’s original purpose, we see mobile broadband and connectivity will shortly get support from LEO satellites from just about anywhere in the US. Your average OEP or agency can rollout a Starlink ground station to support ad-hoc connectivity, it supports Wi-Fi calling, and 3.5 GHz. private LTE can be deployed as-needed. This new revolution in connectivity will undoubtably reduce the need for FirstNet deployables. Giving us a Nationwide Band 14 was great for rural HPUE devices (we use it) but did nothing to provide Interoperability. FirstNet Authority needs to refocus on their original purpose of Interoperability. They first need to work with NPSTC and Safecom and come up with standardized protocols for nationwide unique unit identification, agency identification, personnel identification and all the sub categories contained therein, built into signaling protocols. Then create a nationwide set of geographically IP based Interoperability Talk-Groups, hosted on Nationwide redundant servers, using open standards and encryption, and accessible to ANY approved software/device vendor. First start for example by linking existing VCall channels to matching regional Talk-Groups on a permanent basis, allowing access from RF or IP based devices. Then allow every agency to link dedicated local Talk-Groups or frequencies to additional regional Interoperability Talk-Groups. ANY public safety user should be able to instantly get on a shared Talk-Group either via RF or IP, in order to communicate with each other ad-hoc. Nationwide unit ID standards would keep all units and users unique. I think we actually have something “similar” to this, it’s called the telephone. We can’t seem to get to a common public safety interoperable solution at this point for whatever reason and get this rolled out. We basically had some of this RF capability before we went to trunking, with State-wide Fire, Police and EMS channels. Now lets get it IP open standards based and paired with existing RF, which would open it up to all users with some added security where needed. Being IP based can eliminate geographic boundaries and allow devices towork anywhere. Let’s get some of that new $8B FirstNet money working on IP based Interoperability solutions ASAP, otherwise the way wireless connectivity is progressing, FirstNet will become nothing but another ‘MVNO”, service that I can get from Verizon or T-Mobile for free.