Prospect of delayed spectrum auction riles key lawmaker

Just two months ago, the FCC's re-auction of a critical band of spectrum that could remedy many of the communications woes plaguing the nation's first responders was a top priority, with Chairman Kevin Martin emphasizing that he wanted the bidding held this year. But plans for the so-called D-block spectrum sale are now mired in controversy over how the do-over should be conducted, prompting Martin to acknowledge last Friday that the auction is doubtful for 2008 and triggering outrage from a House lawmaker who has been trying to keep the issue in the public spotlight.

Comment on this article in The Forum."What I am very worried about is that if America is attacked again or there's a major natural disaster, we have made virtually no progress in seven years on a problem we know how to solve," House Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee Chairwoman Jane Harman, D-Calif., said in an interview. Harman, who had hoped the auction would occur this summer, plans to ask Martin to at least adopt new rules in September so it can happen in early 2009.

"What I worry about is: the September date slides, various agendas play out and then we wait to see who the next president is, and we don't get to new rules until sometime next year," she said.

"We remain committed to moving forward on this initiative," an FCC spokesman said today, adding that it was "technically feasible" to hold the bidding late this year but not guaranteed. Other sources said it is wise of Martin to move cautiously to avoid potential missteps. Finding the right balance in crafting new rules "is a difficult and complicated task," said Paul Glenchur, a senior telecom analyst with the Stanford Washington Research Group. Given that the agency could not sell these airwaves on its first try, it wants to "take the time to do it right" because rushing the process and stumbling "just slows everything down again," he added.

The D-block, part of a larger chunk of spectrum the agency successfully sold earlier this year, was supposed to be the government's response to the communications meltdowns that hampered emergency response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. An optimistic FCC crafted a public-private partnership under which the winning bidder would have commercial rights to the frequencies in exchange for agreeing to construct a nationwide, state-of-the-art broadband network for first responders. The planned infrastructure would allow police, fire and rescue squads to download large amounts of data, such as maps, at the disaster sites, share live video and communicate seamlessly by phone and e-mail across agencies and jurisdictions.

But only days before the auction, the most likely bidder shuttered its doors. In the end, the single bid was more than $800,000 short of the minimum. Harman suggested with the presidential election looming, FCC officials may be dragging their feet to see how the results shake out.

"Something that I've heard is that this is about personal agendas and who will be the next chairman," she said, adding, "I don't frankly think the terrorists are waiting for some personal agendas to play out."

A few sources said Democrats would stand more to gain from a delay, but others dismissed this view altogether, insisting that the main impediment is disagreement among commissioners, lawmakers, potential bidders and the public safety community over which, if any, conditions should be imposed.

"It's more complex than I think they had initially expected," a public safety official said.