By Stokely Baksh

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2007 — Arizona Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain hopes that the Federal Communication Commission will follow his legislation as the agency drafts rules governing a freshly available block of radio frequencies set to be auctioned by January 2008.

His June 12 letter to the FCC is the latest effort by politicians and former regulators to influence the fate of the radio spectrum at 700 Megahertz (MHz). That band of spectrum has been used by broadcast television, but will be freed for other uses under the switch to digital television (DTV).

Of the 108 MHz that will be made available by the switch to DTV, 60 MHz are slated for public auction. Public safety officials will obtain about a quarter, or 24 MHz, for enhancing their communications capabilities. The remaining 24 MHz have previously been auctioned off.

Some politicians, including McCain, want more than 24 MHz devoted to public safety.

In the letter, McCain said he was pleased to see that the FCC requested comments on establishing a national public safety organization to manage a block of spectrum in the upper portion of the 700 Megahertz (MHz) band. McCain envisioned the same concept in the SAVE LIVES ACT, or S. 744.

McCain wrote that such a public safety zone would create an "outstanding example of public-private partnership" where "all agencies have secure access and commercial interests are afforded a viable investment and participation opportunity."

The SAVE LIVES ACT stands for Spectrum Availability for Emergency-Response and Law-Enforcement to Improve Vital Emergency Services Act. It would require the FCC to auction spectrum in the 700 MHz band on the condition that bidders agree to share use of the spectrum with public safety and implement specifications set forth by an intergovernmental Public Safety Interoperable Communications Working Group.

The group is made up of public safety organizations including the Association of Chiefs of Police, International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the Major Countries Sheriffs Association. Under McCain's proposal, it would develop standards on network build-out, construction timetables, coverage areas, service levels, and emergency preemption rules.

In addition to the 24 MHz already slated to go to public safety, McCain's bill would set aside another 30 MHz in the 700 MHz band for the creation of a national public safety network.

"During my work on this issue, I have not only been concerned about public safety not receiving spectrum in a timely manner, but also not receiving enough spectrum," McCain wrote.

McCain, a former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, previously introduced legislation to study the short-term and long-term spectrum needs of public safety. McCain said that the FCC's 2005 report on the subject did not include a specific recommendation on the amount of spectrum necessary to aid public safety interoperability. But it did call for a nationwide public safety network, McCain said.

McCain is the second presidential candidate to voice concern over the 700 MHz Band, behind Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards. Edwards sent a letter on May 30, 2007, urging the FCC to make the Internet more affordable and accessible especially to rural and underserved areas.

Edwards suggested the FCC set aside as much as half of the newly available 60 MHz for wholesalers who could lease access to smaller start-ups, require winning license-holders not to discriminate among data and services and to allow any device to be attached to their wireless service. Those suggestions are similar to aspects of a proposal, currently being considered by the FCC, dubbed Frontline Wireless.

Also on Wednesday, Frontline announced that former FCC Chairman Mark Fowler had become a founding partner and investor of the organization. Fowler, FCC chairman under President Reagan, joins a team that includes Reed Hundt, FCC chairman under President Clinton.

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