Former Clinton official backs auction of D Block communication spectrum

Holding a public auction for a valuable piece of the communication spectrum is the best way to ensure the timely completion of a nationwide, interoperable broadband network available to first responders, a former Federal Emergency Management Agency director said on Monday.

If public safety agencies were given the D Block of spectrum, they would be responsible for financing the construction of the broadband network, said James Lee Witt, FEMA director under President Clinton, during an event in Washington sponsored by Connect Public Safety Now, a coalition in favor of auctioning the D Block. It could cost cash-strapped agencies as much as $47.7 billion to build out the network, according to the coalition.

"There's no way [agencies] can do that," Witt said. "It's impossible."

He added it could take the public safety community nearly 20 years to finish the project, from raising funds to completing the network.

If the Federal Communications Commission were to auction off the D Block, then the winning bidder would bear the costs of building the network and first responders still would have access to it during emergencies.

"We have all of this technology available now. . . . [It] can be put together in a public-private partnership that can start solving the problem sooner rather than later," Witt said. "When you have kids who have cell phones with [better] capabilities than a first responder's, that's unacceptable."

Public safety agencies currently lack the ability to communicate across jurisdictions because they have received pieces of the communications spectrum piecemeal. The problem precedes the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when officials reported corresponding with pen and paper due to inoperable radios. Witt noted the same issue arose after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. And it still has not been resolved, he added, pointing to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when commercial carriers came together to help first responders communicate after cell towers were destroyed.

"A reliable, interoperable system is what our first responders . . . and what our citizens need today," Witt said. "We have to fix this problem . . . we cannot let this go forward; it will cheat the taxpayers out of a system the country needs now."

Public safety agencies have been pushing for broadband, which requires more of the spectrum. As part of the digital television conversion, FCC provided 10 megahertz of sought-after spectrum for broadband use, and 14 MHz for public safety agencies. Based on a congressional mandate and as part of the National Broadband Plan, FCC has recommended the open 10 MHz, also known as the D Block, be auctioned off.

But R. David Paulison, FEMA administrator under President George W. Bush in September argued against an auction, saying the D Block should be designated solely for public safety officials. And Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer urged Congress to pass a bill that would reallocate the D Block to first responders. The legislation also would direct FCC to establish standards that allow first responders, when not using the network, to lease the capacity on a secondary but preemptive basis to commercial or other users. The measure has stalled.

Witt, now chief executive officer of the consultancy Witt Associates, said public safety officials do not understand the benefits of an FCC auction. If supporters did a better job of selling that approach, the auction could take place in 2011 when it needs to, he said. FCC did not respond to a call for comment.