Comm Daily on capacity white paper

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

From Communications Daily, June 16, 2010

FCC White Paper Counters Public Safety Push for D-Block

FCC White Paper Counters Public Safety Push for D-Block An FCC white paper
released Tuesday builds a case against giving public safety direct access
to the 10 MHz D-block, which the National Broadband Plan proposes be sold
in an upcoming auction. Public safety groups have waged a ferocious battle
against the NBP's recommendations.

"Our goal is to bring true interoperable mobile broadband communications
to America's first responders," said Jamie Barnett, chief of the FCC
Public Safety Bureau. "The FCC study shows how we can maximize capacity,
performance, reliability and resiliency of public safety broadband
communications even in the most extraordinary emergencies when life-saving
response efforts are underway and communications demands are at their
peak." Jon Peha, FCC chief technologist, is the lead author of the report.

Public safety already has 24 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum, the paper notes.
"This 24 MHz allocation makes public safety among the largest holders of
spectrum in the 700 MHz band," the paper said. The FCC designated 10
megahertz for broadband use. "Even if one only considers this 10 megahertz
of spectrum allocated for broadband use, public safety would have 200,000
users per megahertz," it said. "This is considerably fewer users than the
estimated number of users that commercial broadband providers will support
in an equivalent amount of similar spectrum. Accordingly, 10 megahertz of
spectrum is a relatively large allocation for public safety's routine
communications traffic. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrates that 10
megahertz of spectrum will provide significant capacity for the public
safety broadband network on a day to day and emergency basis."

The paper examines several scenarios, including a "dirty bomb" attack at
Manhattan's Penn Station, a bridge collapse in Minneapolis, and a
hurricane in Houston. "This analysis determines that a system deployed in
10 megahertz of spectrum with the number of sites proposed in the FCC Cost
Model would have sufficient capacity for estimated broadband
communications in each of these scenarios," the paper said. Overall,
public safety already has 97 MHz allocated for its use across the spectrum
including 60 MHz that can be used for broadband, the paper said: "Using
2010 data, the allocation of spectrum per user for public safety is now 25
times that of commercial providers."

But, the paper argues, giving public safety the D-block "would not
guarantee public safety sufficient capacity for the worst emergencies.
Priority access and roaming onto commercial bands can provide public
safety with far more capacity during periods of greatest need." At times,
even an additional 30 MHz of spectrum would not be enough to guarantee
public safety has all the spectrum it needs, the paper contends. "In these
cases, it is critical that public safety have access to additional
broadband wireless networks, such as those operated by commercial network
operators," the paper said. "Guaranteeing access to these networks will
enable the public safety community to have access to substantially more
capacity than a dedicated network can provide without vastly more
dedicated spectrum than is under consideration." The model proposed in the
NBP would make at least 50 or 60 MHz of additional spectrum immediately
available to public safety, the paper said.

The 700 MHz network proposed in the NBP calls for the deployment of 44,000
sites nationwide, the paper said. "This would give the public safety
network at 700 MHz a site density comparable to commercial providers, and
a total site count greater than all but two of these providers," the FCC
said.

David Farber, former FCC chief technologist, said the FCC deserves credit
for a plan that offers a solution beyond throwing more spectrum at a
problem. "They looked at the demand, looked at what was available and I
thought came up with a very intelligent approach," Farber said. Some
public safety groups are "rooted in the old way of thinking," he added.
"There will always be protests against anything you do." — Howard Buskirk






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