Public safety spectrum auction a bust for FCC.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: SECURITY BEAT: HOMELAND DEFENSE BRIEFS

* The demise of analog television broadcasts was supposed to be a boon for public safety agencies that clamored for years for new space on the radio spectrum to call their own.

In 2009, all television broadcasts will convert to digital signals. That opened up five blocks of spectrum that the Federal Communications Commission put up for auction in February. The D Block was reserved for companies who would use the valuable space to provide services to police, fire and other public safety agencies. The vision was to bring first responders into the digital age with better communication devices such as wireless broadband access.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Unfortunately, the FCC only received one bid, which was less than half of the $1.3 billion it was expecting. That did not meet its reserve price, and the D Block, remains unsold.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said at a press conference that the commission will have to "reevaluate" the plan.

Juan Deaton, a cellular systems engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory, and an expert on public safety communications, said the other blocks sold at the auction may be adequate to serve the public safety communities.

If an operator wins the C block and...