Auction Bill
June 10, 2011
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved
legislation, sponsored by committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and ranking
committee member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), that would require the FCC to allocate
the 700 MHz D-block directly to the public safety sector. The bill would also mandate
incentive auctions of broadcast TV spectrum that would help pay for construction of a
nationwide, interoperable public safety wireless broadband network. Bipartisan approval
of the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act (S. 911) came after a lengthy
mark-up session at which committee members considered more than 80 amendments and
adopted 17 that deal largely with aspects of the non-profit (and quasi-federal) Public
Safety Broadband Corporation (PSBC) that will manage the public safety network. The
bill also mandates auctions of other spectrum blocks that include the 1755-1855 MHz
band, while providing $12 billion in federal funds to finance deployment of the public
safety network. Stressing that the legislation also contributes $10 billion toward deficit
reduction, Rockefeller asserted that the bill “basically doesn’t cost the taxpayers
anything.” Among the amendments added to the bill are provisions that would (1) reduce
license terms for the PSBC from 15 years to ten, (2) require the PSBC chairperson to be a
non-federal member, (3) require the PSBC’s board to be comprised of both rural and
urban members, and (4) direct the PSBC to leverage existing commercial wireless
infrastructure. Despite the high level of bipartisan support, there were a few detractors
such as Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), who described S.911 as “a spending bill which costs
more than $17 billion” and that would earmark an estimated $14.5 billion in auction
revenues toward the PBSC-run network “that would otherwise be used to reduce the
deficit.” Notwithstanding DeMint’s sentiments, Hutchison applauded the bill as “the
most significant piece of telecommunications legislation in a decade.” Praising the bill’s
passage, Senator John McCain (R-AZ)—who introduced separate, but similar legislation
with Senator Jay Lieberman (I-CT) last month—promised to work with Lieberman and
his Senate colleagues to combine the two bills, emphasizing that the goal is “to ensure the
final bill is fully paid for and offers funding for deficit reduction in addition to spectrum
and funding to first responders.”
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