Several states have expressed concern about how smoothly the relocation of their 700 megahertz band narrowband systems will go, including whether the entire retuning and replacement costs will be covered, the timeframe for such moves, and whether the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) will oversee the effort. The states and other public safety entities submitted comments by yesterday’s deadline in PS dockets 12-94 and 06-229 and WT docket 06-150 in response to an ex parte filing submitted by FirstNet in October.
In the filing, FirstNet asked the FCC to condition the licenses or other authorizations to use 700 MHz Band 14 “upon the requirement that no operation on Band 14 be permitted without the express consent of FirstNet after July 31, 2017” (TRDaily, Oct. 22).
“In addition or in the alternative to this request, we ask that the Commission consider conditioning any continued operation on Band 14 on the cessation of all operations on Band 14 within 90 days written notice to the Band 14 incumbent(s) from FirstNet that deployment of the NPSBN is to begin in its State,” FirstNet added.
FirstNet noted that its board in August authorized management to establish a spectrum relocation grant program to clear remaining incumbents from Band 14 to ensure available unencumbered spectrum for the nationwide public safety network (TRDaily, Aug. 17). FirstNet said recently that there are 13 incumbents in the spectrum, mostly public safety agencies.
“The Federal Funding Opportunity related to the program is expected to be released in early 2016. For the public safety incumbents currently operating on Band 14, FirstNet anticipates that the program will fund, among other possible relocation costs, necessary frequency coordination, technical assistance, and equipment retuning. The program performance period will likely extend through July 31, 2017, but FirstNet hopes that all of the Band 14 spectrum will be clear well prior to that date,” FirstNet said in its filing.
In its comments, the commonwealth of Virginia noted its Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS), a narrowband network that operates on Band 14 and relies on a digital vehicular repeater system (DVRS) that includes repeaters in more than 3,000 public safety vehicles. “The Commonwealth, on behalf of STARS, wishes to express its concerns that this incumbent statewide public safety system must be properly protected during the transition of this spectrum to FirstNet, and adequate and practical procedures must be established by the Commission to ensure a safe transition,” the filing said.
“The Commonwealth is very pleased that there is finally a realistic prospect for funding, but concerned that i) ‘hard’ deadlines cannot be set based upon the prospect of funding alone, and ii) one size will not fit all when setting a timetable,” the filing added. “The Commonwealth would suggest that i) any deadline should not be set as a fixed calendar date, but expressed in terms of a number of months from the date when a federal CFDA [Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance] grant is made available to an incumbent public safety entity, providing that incumbent with the necessary funding for relocation, and ii) that separate deadlines be established for local public safety incumbents as opposed to statewide public safety incumbents (e.g., 12 months for local systems and an optimistic 18 months for statewide systems) based upon the recent and parallel experience in 800 MHz rebanding.”
In particular, Virginia cited the “massive logistical issues in rebanding over 3,000 DVRS units in vehicles throughout the state,” including the need for “spare” repeaters and the fact that the vendor has said it can reconfigure hardware on only about 100 repeaters a week.
The state also said that it “continues to believe that it is not appropriate procedurally to have a new public safety licensee (FirstNet) control at its discretion the transfer schedule of existing public safety licensees. This is not intended as a reflection on FirstNet’s ability or good faith, but when a conflict develops between FirstNet’s legitimate needs and timetable, and an existing public safety licensee’s legitimate needs and timetable, FirstNet should not be allowed to unilaterally make that decision. Even if FirstNet were to be scrupulously fair in that decision, the process still has an appearance of impropriety. The Commission must be responsible for controlling the transition, or appoint an independent arbiter.”
The state of Illinois, which operates its Starcom21 narrowband system on Band 14, urged “the Commission, in consultation with FirstNet, to provide a definitive source of funding appropriate for the complete relocation of the public safety system and a methodology to implement the relocation. The State deployed its 700 narrowband system under valid authority from the Commission and should not be required to bear the cost of the relocation. “The cost to relocate the system goes well beyond reprogramming and equipment; the reconstruction of a major public safety land mobile radio network requires significant planning, training, and assessment for which funds have not been budgeted and are not available in the State’s financial condition,” it said. “Finally, that process must not compromise our public safety operations during or after relocation implementation.” The state added that it is “committing the resources we currently have available to complete our transition before the July 2017 deadline.”
As to the specifics of its band relocation, the state said that its vehicular repeater unit manufacturer has said that many “cannot be retuned because that particular version is obsolete, making replacement a much more viable option.”
In addition, the state suggested “that the request from FirstNet as written gives FirstNet an unfair advantage in dealing with Band 14 incumbents.” It added that there don’t appear to be (1) “provisions for any method for dealing with disagreements over operational or technical issues that affect funding;” (2) a “negotiation process;” and (3) an “arbitration process.
“In short, there is nothing that protects the interests of the incumbent users in this project,” Illinois added. “We are concerned that FirstNet could simply dictate an arbitrary funding amount to each entity that may or may not be adequate to address the issue. FirstNet could withhold their ‘express consent’ unless the agency agrees to a less than adequate solution.”
Illinois said the FCC shouldn’t “issue a final decision in this matter until after the FirstNet grant program is finalized and all the details of funding amounts, timelines, and other terms of the grant are fully understood by all parties involved.” The Commission should then “publish a timeline that allows for mandatory negotiation periods and neutral arbitration in the event of a disagreement between FirstNet and the agencies that need to vacate Band 14,” it added.
The state of Hawaii, which also uses Band 14, said, “Consistent with Commission precedent, any relocation of Band 14 operations should be accompanied by a requirement that FirstNet pay all reasonable costs, including transactional costs, for a transition to comparable facilities. In the 800 MHz band public safety proceeding, the Commission established a process to ensure that all relocated incumbent public safety licensees were fully compensated.”
Hawaii also noted that “FirstNet is also a licensee of the Commission. Therefore, while FirstNet can be authorized to manage the relocation process, the Commission must maintain ultimate authority over the licensed spectrum and the transition. It can be expected that in most cases FirstNet and the incumbent public safety licensee will agree on a relocation path. However, in those cases where a difference of opinion develops, the Commission must be available to resolve the conflict.”
The Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology, which has four counties impacted by the 700 MHz narrowband relocation requirement, said, “One of the entities [jurisdictions] was recently advised by a representative of FirstNet, that FirstNet would be willing to accept the liability of having these frequencies programmed into users radios until the re-programming efforts were completed – even if that was after July 31, 2017.”
The filing added that the FCC should “require FirstNet to clarify, in writing for the incumbents, and as soon as possible, these points as it relates to the incumbent’s continued operation of voice communications within this band beyond the July 31, 2017 deadline. This clarification would seek to avoid any confusion between FirstNet and the incumbents regarding the continued voice operation on the frequencies, the requirements to relocate and the ability to do so after July 31, 2017.
“Additionally, the Commission should require FirstNet should provide additional guidance on how they plan to work with the state and any incumbents who have failed to relocate once the 90 days written notice of the FirstNet deployment of the NPSBN in the state,” the state said. “The Commission should institute a waiver process or provide for extensions, as needed and justified, by which incumbents could seek to complete the relocation if extenuating circumstances impact their ability to meet the FirstNet timetable.”
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council praised “FirstNet for budgeting funds to relocate incumbents and for taking steps to establish a relocation grant assistance program. This is consistent with previous NPSTC recommendations. The July 17, 2017 deadline FirstNet has proposed for relocation seems reasonable on its face, however, it is premature to finalize a deadline for any authorizations in Band 14 to expire until the funds for relocation are actually available to the public safety incumbents operating on Band 14 and reasonable but aggressive timelines are known for the actual work needed to relocate all incumbent licensees.
“Some incumbent licensees have extensive vehicular repeater systems to be relocated, which can present a more challenging relocation scenario,” NPSTC added. “NPSTC also urges the Commission, in consultation with public safety incumbents and FirstNet, to consider and decide whether a portion of the guardband spectrum at 768-769/798-799 should be provided as an option to help support vehicular repeater use, as previously recommended in these proceedings.”
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International, which has a representative of the NPSTC board, was more deferential to FirstNet. “In addressing FirstNet’s request, the Commission should provide FirstNet with appropriate deference and assistance, consistent with the legislation that created FirstNet,” APCO said. “The Spectrum Act establishes FirstNet as the single public safety wireless licensee of the Band 14 spectrum and directs the FCC to ‘take all actions necessary to facilitate the transition of existing public safety broadband spectrum to [FirstNet].’ Consistent with the Spectrum Act, and as APCO has previously stated, FirstNet must have full discretion in addressing incumbent operations in its licensed spectrum. Accordingly, APCO supports FirstNet’s request that the Commission condition continued use of Band 14 by any incumbent on the requirement that no operation be permitted after July 31, 2017, without the express consent of FirstNet.”
In joint comments, LS telcom, Inc., and RadioSoft, Inc., said, “In view of the FCC’s mandate to grant users equal and non-discriminatory access to the radio spectrum and due to the FCC’s neutral position in the process, the FCC would be the organization to drive and monitor the transition process. FirstNet, as a licensee, has a vested interest in obtaining the radio spectrum in the identified bands and thus can’t be a neutral instance in the re-farming process.” – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com
Courtesy TRDaily