FCC'S NEW PUBLIC SAFETY CHIEF TALKS D-BLOCK IN PUBLIC DEBUT

摘要

All options remain on the table for the 700 MHz D-block, Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett told reporters. Bureau officials said, meanwhile, that it's unclear when the 800 MHz rebanding, which has taken five years, will be completed. Barnett got the FCC job in late July. He said his priorities as bureau chief include communications interoperability, cybersecurity, E-911 deployment, emergency alerts and protecting communications infrastructure. But the future of the D-block, an issue on which the commission punted last year, dominated reporters' questions. Twelve cities and other areas have petitioned the FCC seeking early use of the 700 MHz band while the agency develops rules for a national public safety wireless broadband network. nnBarnett said it's unclear when the bureau will make recommendations to commissioners on whether to hold another auction of the 700 MHz and whether to ask Congress for a law change allowing the block to be reallocated directly to public safety. "I'm sure at some point [commissioners] are going to ask for some type of ranking of what the options are," he said. "We need to be able to tell them why something may have a higher priority. What are the factors, the pros and cons. ... There are a lot of factors that we're looking at." Barnett said the bureau completed a top-down review of public safety preparedness, as required by Chairman Julius Genachowski, and gave him a report July 30. "Every office of the commission was involved with that," Barnett said. "It was comprehensive. Some of our people said they burned the midnight oil. They used it all up."