The Phoenix Center, a think tank that includes former FCC staff and leading telecommunications academics, released the findings of their study on assigning the D-Block to Public Safety. According to the Public Safety Alliance press release, the report shows that the allocation would produce $3.4 billion more in social benefit than putting it up for commercial auction. This is a great tipper in the debate over the D-Block question, because it will significantly contribute to deficit reduction. Most of the value comes from the opportunity to create an exclusive 20 MHz block of spectrum for use by Public Safety. The analysis finds that frequencies are more valuable in the hands of Public Safety agencies than commercial radio, to a great extent. The reduced cost of deploying a robust network makes D-Block allocation "economically rational," according to the release.
The study is a great follow-up to an extensive analysis of the possible regulation conducted by the Obama Administration, which alsoc oncluded that Congress should allocate the spectrum block to Public Safety. The legislation, S. 28; The Public Safety Wireless and Innovation Act of 2011, has already been introduced by Senator John "Jay" Rockefeller, IV, Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. A similar proposal, H.R. 607; Broadband for First Responders, has been brought to the House by Congressman Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
See the text of the report here.
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