AT&T supports PSSA 4.9 GHz proposal, describes it as ‘lawful’ and ‘in the public interest’

AT&T—the FirstNet Authority (FNA) contractor tasked with building and maintaining the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN)—officially expressed its support the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) proposal to grant the FNA with a direct or indirect nationwide license to 4.9 GHz public-safety spectrum.

After staying silent publicly on the 4.9 GHz issue for the past two years amid significant speculation, AT&T asserted its support for the PSSA proposal in a 15-page filing with the FCC that was released publicly on Friday.

“Allowing the FNA to access the 4.9 GHz spectrum will accomplish the [FCC’s] Commission’s most important goals: supporting public safety and promoting efficient spectrum use,” according to the AT&T filing. “The Commission should facilitate the FNA’s access to the 4.9 GHz spectrum consistent with the [PSSA] approach outlined herein, because it is lawful and serves the public interest.”

PSSA initially proposed that the FCC directly grant the FirstNet Authority a nationwide license to the 4.9 GHz airwaves—50 MHz of spectrum historically dedicated to public safety that the FCC believes has been underutilized—but also expressed support recently for an alternative approach after questions were raised about the legality of a direct license award.

AT&T’s filing focused on the PSSA alternative, in which a band manager would hold the “overlay” nationwide 4.9 GHz license, but FCC rules would mandate that the band manager enter into a sharing arrangement with the FirstNet Authority.

Whether the FCC legally can grant the FirstNet Authority a nationwide license—directly or indirectly—to the 4.9 GHz spectrum has been one of many hot topics of debate about the issue during the past several months. Throughout its filing, AT&T asserts that the FCC has the legal authority to implement the PSSA’s 4.9 GHz proposal, addressing virtually all of the opposing arguments individually.

AT&T’s filing also states that its letter to the FCC is designed “to debunk the mistaken and self-serving arguments recently made by … industry groups.”

In particular, AT&T cited “exaggerated claims” by the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) and Verizon that the PSSA proposal would be a spectrum “windfall” for AT&T, based on an assumption that AT&T would gain access to the 4.9 GHz spectrum via its contract with the FirstNet Authority.

Such claims “mischaracterize the public-private partnership [between AT&T and the FirstNet Authority] and must be rejected,” according to AT&T.

“Under the PSSA’s proposal, AT&T would gain no license, lease, or other spectrum-use authorization for any 4.9 GHz band spectrum,” the AT&T letter to the FCC states. “Instead, … the license would go to a Band Manager, and the Band Manager would allow the FNA to use the 4.9 GHz band to support upgrades to the NPSBN.

“The FNA has a contract with AT&T to maintain and operate the NPSBN on its behalf, and, as consideration in that contract, AT&T may use excess network capacity on the NPSBN on a secondary, interruptible basis.”

Currently, AT&T is subject to the oversight of the FirstNet Authority, which has a 25-year contract with the carrier that is scheduled to expire in 2042. Additional layers of oversight would be established under the PSSA proposal for the 4.9 GHz spectrum, according to AT&T.

“As the private sector partner to the FNA, AT&T is contractually required to adhere to the rules and conditions set forth by the FNA, including applying FirstNet Quality of Service, Priority, and Preemption to the NPSBN,” the AT&T filing states.

“Furthermore, … the FNA would be subject to the Band Manager’s approved Band Plan and the Commission’s existing rules, providing further review and oversight over the buildout and operation of the 4.9 GHz spectrum on the NPSBN.”

AT&T wireless-carrier rival Verizon has expressed its opposition to both PSSA proposals, urging the FCC to not “gift” AT&T with access to valuable mid-band spectrum in a recent filing. However, if the FCC creates rules as requested by the PSSA, Verizon’s filing asked that the FCC mandate some sort of competitive bid or procurement be conducted for a carrier to gain access to the 4.9 GHz spectrum.

AT&T’s filing did not mention a competitive process for the 4.9 GHz spectrum, but it did note that the FirstNet Authority conducted an open procurement associated with NPSBN buildout on 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum.

“Notably, wireless industry stakeholders had an equal opportunity to bid to become the FNA’s contractor, but AT&T was the only nationwide wireless carrier to submit a bid in response to the FNA’s request for proposal seeking a private-sector partner,” according to AT&T’s filing.

AT&T’s filing also disagrees with some critics’ assertions that the PSSA proposal would create an unfair advantage to AT&T in the commercial marketplace, noting that the FirstNet Authority’s “mandate is not commercial in nature.”

Of course, the FCC is conducting this proceeding in an effort to establish 4.9 GHz rules that will address commissioners’ bipartisan perceptions that the public-safety band has been underutilized during the past 20 years. AT&T’s filing notes that the PSSA’s FirstNet Authority-centric option already has proven to be success in this regard at the 700 MHz Band 14 and that the model also would work with 4.9 GHz mid-band frequencies while providing a spectral foundation for public safety to leverage 5G communications in response efforts.

“The NPSBN has been a remarkable success, delivering the modern capabilities, broad coverage, and robust capacity needed to meet first responders’ communications needs across all states, territories, and the District of Columbia,” AT&T’s filing states.

“The PSSA’s proposal to allow the FNA to access the 4.9 GHz band merely ensures that the FNA can build upon this success by adding dedicated 5G spectrum to the NPSBN when and where it is needed by public safety. Doing so would ensure that the 4.9 GHz spectrum band is used more intensively while at the same time ensuring that the spectrum remains dedicated to public-safety use.”

As expected, the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI)—an organization opposed to the PSSA 4.9 GHz proposal since its establishment last fall—disagreed with AT&T’s assertions regarding the 4.9 GHz spectrum.

CERCI Chair Kenneth Corey responded to the AT&T filing by issuing the following statement.

“AT&T has finally emerged from the shadows and confirmed what we know to be true—that it wants the 4.9 GHz band transferred to the FirstNet Authority (FNA) for its own use,” Corey said in the prepared statement, which was provided to IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“AT&T does not need this spectrum, but public-safety agencies do. This filing confirms what CERCI has said all along—the PSSA proposal is a means to an end for AT&T, despite what the harm to public safety users might be.”

CERCI’s response reiterated the organization’s position that FCC adoption of the PSSA proposal would “eliminate local control of the 4.9 GHz spectrum band” and would not be legal.

“This is a massive and illegal spectrum grab that would take valuable mid-band spectrum away from local public-safety users,” Corey said in the prepared statement. “Not surprisingly, while trying to argue that the FNA needs the band to offer 5G to public-safety users, AT&T fails to mention it already allows its FirstNet customers to access all of AT&T’s 5G spectrum.

“The legal and policy theory it offers for assigning the spectrum to FNA strains basic logic and the law—it’s a poorly crafted nesting doll of bad licensing and legal theories designed solely to benefit AT&T. It also makes clear that existing public-safety users will be cut off under its proposal.”

AT&T’s filing disagrees with CERCI’s concerns about the fate of incumbent 4.9 GHz users under the PSSA proposal, as “protecting incumbent licensee operations” is cited as one of the carrier’s goals in the first paragraph of its letter to the FCC.

Incumbent users would be protected by the nationwide band manager under the PSSA proposal, according to AT&T.

“Contrary to CERCI’s claims, permitting the FNA to access the 4.9 GHz band pursuant to sharing arrangements coordinated by a Band Manager does not ‘amount to an outright allocation in all but name,’” AT&T’s filing states. “The FNA would not have any expectation of ‘virtually exclusive access to an entire nationwide license.’ Instead, the FNA would coordinate its proposed use of the band with existing incumbents that are operating on the spectrum via the Band Manager’s approved Band Plan.”