“At the FCC, our mission is to unleash the potential of communications technology –
including mobile broadband – to benefit our economy and our society. We believe in the
power of dynamic free markets to drive these benefits, and that government has an
important but limited role to play in enabling innovation and investment in
communications technologies and services, promoting competition, and empowering
consumers.”

These words were shared by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski during a speech delivered in Barcelona a couple days ago. While I appreciate the Chairman’s intention to make broadband access available to every American household, we shouldn’t give Spain the impression that there is another European country with a capital west of Portugal.

Chairman Genachowski’s statement gives the impression that the FCC controls private capital namely communications technology. Yes, to a certain degree, the FCC regulates or creates a framework for access to the telecommunications, broadcast, and cable television markets. It also sets the framework for accessing public rights-of-way, poles, and that great and limited national resource; spectrum.

The agency, along with the rules it promulgates, and the statutes that give it authority, do not best promote a flexible and dynamic market. Free markets unleash communications technology and the innovation and dynamism that come along with it when incented by consumers that are willing and able to not only purchase communications goods and services and producers willing and able to develop and sell these goods and services.

It is the FCC’s attitude, as captured by the statement from Mr. Genachowski’s speech, which has it frequently on the precipice of picking winners and losers. Leave the technology development to the markets, FCC. The industry, its investors, and consumers will leave the FCC to regulate market entry on a minimal basis and ensure the acquisition of spectrum necessary for keeping consumers connected.

Vice-President Joe Biden recently touted one of the highlights of the American Jobs Act: the deployment a broadband network for first responders. Mr. Biden stated that the D-block of spectrum, the airwaves necessary for providing a seamless network of connectivity for public safety agencies, would be allocated to them.

The problem with the Act is that it makes mention of voluntary auctions, where broadcast stations would voluntarily give up spectrum (for a price of course) in order to free up spectrum for wireless use.

The administration should persuade the FCC to allocate D-block spectrum directly to first responders, and not make the allocation contingent on voluntary broadcast station auctions, or place any non-profit clearinghouses between first responders and sources of spectrum.

President Obama’s American Jobs Plan calls for the creation of a Public Safety Broadband Corporation. This not-for-profit, non-political organization will hold the 700 Mhz D-block spectrum and deploy and manage a broadband network for our nation’s first responders and public safety agencies.

I have reservations about this corporation. My first reaction was, “Is this the broadband version of the Federal Reserve?“

Specifically, the corporation will “hold the single public safety wireless license granted under section 281 (of the Act) and take all actions necessary to ensure the building, deployment, and operation of a secure and resilient nationwide public safety interoperable broadband network …“

There have been two schools of thought on the public safety issue. One school, in which I belong, says that wee ought to just transfer the D-block to public safety and allow local and state governments to enter into the necessary inter-jurisdictional agreements and construction contracts necessary for deploying this network.

I guess the Obama administration is concerned that since such a network will cross a bunch of state lines that they should determine who will receive the spectrum. They may also be thinking that, like September 11, 2001, an event that calls for the use of a nationwide public safety network will be a national event. Maybe. Maybe not.

Even an event as catastrophic as September 11 was mostly local in terms of emergency response. In addition, its been ten years and if the federal government hasn’t provided us with a nationwide broadband network, maybe it’s time for local and state public safety agencies to run with this.

Communications is in the blood in my family. My brother served in the Signal Corp in the U.S. Army. My sister worked in broadcast television. I volunteered at a small radio station in the Virgin Islands while in high school. Today I still volunteer, this time with the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, having manned radios on the ground and in the air.

Growing up in the Caribbean, you knew two things: First, the first week of school meant a hurricane was coming your way. Second, you better have a radio station in your community that you can rely on.

The video I’ve included in this blog post drives home that point. Radio stations serve a purpose greater than listening to Rhianna or Lady Gaga. They are the lifeblood of the community, ready to provide you with life saving information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The rains from Camille almost took my father’s life in 1969. I lived through hurricanes David and Frederick in 1979, and drove through the gusty winds of Hurricane Kate. Through all those events there was radio, keeping me and my family informed.

For these reasons, I believe policy makers should acknowledge the power of radio by ensuring that its channels are unencumbered by unnecessary interference.

Tomorrow, the Federal Communications Commission will hold a forum on restoring and maintaining our communications infrastructure during and in the aftermath of an earthquake. The forum is inspired in part by recent events in Japan.

One issue I expect that will be raised is the allocation of spectrum for use by emergency agencies. The FCC, as part of a proposed spectrum allocation scheme, considered a shared commercial/public agency framework where public safety agencies would take over some commercial spectrum for use during emergencies. Otherwise, the use of certain spectral ether would be in the hands of commercial users.

This is what I had to say in an earlier post on the matter:

“Policy makers are trying to decide between auctioning off spectrum or allocating it directly to first responders. Auctioning off spectrum to private carriers might raise capital for building out a network, but allocating the D-block of spectrum to first responders is a lot more efficient.

First responders have the expertise regarding the configurations of their networks and what is needed in terms of multi-jurisdictional communications. While the chances of an attack as diabolical as the September 2001 attacks have decreased over the past ten years, the probability is still there. Should we risk another break down in communications?”

I’m not an engineer, but as someone who volunteers with a search and rescue group, I would hope that out of this forum a conclusion will be drawn that it is best to outright allocate the D-block to first responders.

Also, given our apprehension and killing of the notorious Osama bin Laden, the threat of a terrorist attack has just gone up. If anything, this is when we want to ensure that first responders have the spectrum they need to deploy interoperable communications.