EWA Moves to Reduce Public Safety Claims to I/B Spectrum
An increasing number of public safety applicants, when denied channels by the public safety frequency advisory committees (PSFAC), are seeking frequencies from the much more heavily encumbered Industrial/Business (I/B) pool. In response, EWA has instituted public safety application concurrence procedures to protect the interests of public safety applicants, the wireless system investments of I/B licensees, and to ensure that public safety use of the predominantly shared I/B bands below 800 MHz occurs only when there are no available public safety channels.
In an April 24, 2006, letter to Acting Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Cathy Seidel, EWA explained its new concurrence policies regarding public safety requests for I/B channels. Adequate technical data will be required from the public safety entity to enable EWA to perform contour analyses in its frequency selection. EWA will also require a statement from the PSFAC indicating that there is no capacity within public safety frequency allocations. A statement from the public safety applicant will be required certifying that it will accept channel capacity on a co-equal, shared basis with existing and future I/B licensees, unless the application is for a centralized trunked system.
In every instance, EWA will analyze the public safety band in which the applicant intends to operate to verify that there are no public safety channels available to accommodate the application. If appropriate public safety channels are identified that appear to be less congested than the shared I/B channels, the application will be returned “without concurrence.”
EWA, USMSS Urge FCC to Exempt Non-Interconnected Entities From CPNI Rules
The FCC recently released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to study additional steps to protect the privacy of phone call records, known as customer proprietary network information (CPNI), collected and held by telecommunications carriers. The CPNI rules were enacted to protect consumers from the misuse of their personal information through the joint marketing arrangements of large telecommunications carriers, which resulted in the sale of cellular telephone information over the Internet.
EWA and the USMSS filed Comments on the NPRM supporting the protection of proprietary telephone information, but noted that the FCC regulations unintentionally impose CPNI requirements on carriers that do not collect or market the type of consumer information that is subject to abuse.
“However, in its effort to strengthen these [consumer] protections, it also is important that the FCC not cast its regulatory net wider than is necessary to achieve its objective,” according to the EWA and USMSS filing. In fact, CPNI is defined by Congress as information contained in the bills pertaining to telephone exchange service or telephone toll service received by a customer of a carrier.
The filing urged the FCC to either exempt the non-interconnected carriers from the CPNI regulations or use a “covered carrier” definition, which draws a distinct line between cellular architecture systems with sufficient capacity to serve the public and those communications providers that serve a more specialized customer base such as the systems operated by EWA and USMSS members.
New Nationwide Broadband Network Proposed for First Responders, Consumers
Cyren Call Communications Corporation, a new venture led by Morgan O’Brien, a co-founder of Nextel, has proposed a public/private partnership between public safety and commercial service providers to create a nationwide network to serve first responders as well as consumers. According to Cyren Call’s plan, the FCC would exercise its authority to manage the public airwaves in the public interest by authorizing a Public Safety Broadband Trust to hold a license for 30 MHz of spectrum capacity from the upper 700 MHz band and to structure innovative arrangements for its use, placing public safety needs first with commercial usage secondary. The end result would be a single nationwide, broadband, Internet Protocol-based network, guaranteeing interoperability between all levels of government throughout the nation and capacity for commercial users.
The Public Safety Broadband Trust would structure lease arrangements with commercial providers capable of building this advanced network. These commercial operators would have the right to use network capacity to deliver commercial broadband service to urban and rural communities, as long as it does not impede public safety communications. Cyren Call noted that leasing spectrum to commercial carriers for the nationwide network makes sense because public safety cannot finance a network of this scope, nor can it afford future upgrades to keep up technology advances.
Cyren Call’s proposal has already generated intense discussion in the industry. The proposal would remove a large amount of capacity from a targeted 2008 auction, which may generate a less than enthusiastic reception on Capitol Hill.
Automatic Termination Reminder;
Notify the FCC of System Construction
With the commencement of the “Automatic Termination” program, the FCC has begun taking action against licensees, whose authorization has a build-out date after February 1, 2006 but have not notified the Commission that their radio system has been constructed and placed in operation.
According to the rules, a licensee has one year to construct its radio system after authorization. The licensee then has 30 days to notify the FCC of system construction. During the first 15 days of that period, a Notice of Construction be can be filed without a fee, but then during the next 15 days notification must be accompanied by a waiver.
If a licensee does not notify the FCC of construction within that time period, its license will go on Public Notice for 30 days, which means it will show up on a weekly notification to the public of the licenses that have been identified for termination. The licensee will receive a letter from the FCC advising them of the termination pending status of their license. The licensee may file a Petition for Reconsideration within 30 days of the Public Notice explaining to the FCC why a Notice of Construction was not filed in a timely manner. If the Commission approves the Petition the license will be returned to current status. In the event the FCC does not accept the Petition for Reconsideration, the licensee will be required to file for a new authorization.
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