CERCI reiterates opposition to PSSA proposal of nationwide 4.9 GHz license to FirstNet Authority

A new Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) filing asks the FCC to focus on local-control tenets in an upcoming 4.9 GHz ruling and reject a proposal that a nationwide license to the spectrum be granted to the FirstNet Authority.

Most of the CERCI filing repeated the coalition’s positions about 4.9 GHz that were stated by the organization during its founding last November, including an expansion of the public-safety airwaves that also would support critical-infrastructure-industry (CII) usage. One significant changes is that the coalition has expanded to include four new organizations since that time.

“These positions are supported by multiple notable public-safety, CII, and commercial stakeholders, and as a result CERCI’s membership continues to grow,” the CERCI filing states. “In recent weeks, the California State Sheriffs’ Association (CSSA), the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE), the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT), and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) joined CERCI.”

CERCI’s filing with the FCC reiterates the coalition’s position that the FCC should not adopt a proposal from the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) to grant the FirstNet Authority with a nationwide license to the 50 MHz of 4.9 GHz spectrum (4940-4990 MHz) that has been allocated to public-safety use for more than two decades.

According to the CERCI filing, FCC commissioners should “reject FirstNet licensing for the 4.9 GHz band, which would reduce ‘local control’ to merely allowing local public-safety officials to choose between quality-of-service levels offered by a national network provider, rather than having actual ownership and control of these critical networks.”

In addition to CERCI, the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has submitted a letter to the FCC opposing the PSSA proposal to grant the FirstNet Authority with a nationwide 4.9 GHz license.

A key point repeatedly emphasized in the CERCI filing is the FCC should approve rules that “ensure local public-safety control of the band … and enable local public-safety systems to meet those needs.” PSSA proponents have noted that the FirstNet model allows local public-safety agencies to operate as they wish—without the need to build and maintain the network—but CERCI’s filing indicates that the coalition does not believe this is enough.

“CERCI members do not view the PSSA’s vision of local public-safety choice among predetermined options available on a nationwide network—decided at the national level—as actual local control,” according to the CERCI filing. “Requiring local jurisdictions to subscribe to a nationwide network, operated exclusively by a commercial carrier, to access and use the 4.9 GHz band is not local control. And it is not the right answer for the 4.9 GHz band, given how state and local public-safety agencies put the band to use today.”

Specifically, the CERCI filing calls for the FCC to adopt the “Model 2” framework proposed in the agency’s rulemaking proposal, noting that it would “support local decision making about leasing to compatible CII entities.”

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 the a different entity—not the FirstNet Authority—would serve as band manager under its plan.

One key issue cited in the FCC rulemaking is the need for the band manager to “incentivize use of the latest commercially available technologies, including 5G.”

CERCI Chair Kenneth Corey has said that he has “no argument” with people—including many FCC officials—who describe the 4.9 GHz band as being underutilized. Expanding the usage of the band to include critical-infrastructure entities should ensure that the spectrum is utilized fully, Corey has said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

But proponents for the PSSA proposal have noted that the FirstNet Authority has developed a very robust ecosystem. Even though many industry sources initially questioned whether vendors would develop solutions to operate on the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority, there are more than 500 devices that operate on the FirstNet system, which is built and maintained by contractor AT&T.