Lumped into this weeks Payroll Tax Cut bill was an allocation of the long contested 10 MHz of spectrum referred to as the 700 MHz D Block. The future of the D block has been in limbo since the 2008 spectrum auctions, but this week Congress and the Obama Administration finally passed legislation that allocated the D Block to Public Safety for the construction of a nationwide LTE network. Congress also kicked in an additional $7 billion of tax payer dollars to build the network and another $300 million for R&D for the network.
But you can be sure, that much like ObamaCare, there are sill many unknowns. And public safety representatives are already saying $7 Billion isn't enough! No one has yet thought or talked about where the money will come from to operate and maintain the system (but that money has to come from only one source and that is the US Taxpayer) and nobody yet knows who is in charge of planning, designing, and managing the network buildout and operation.
However I am sure that this topic will dominate next weeks discussion at IWCE and for many months to come in the various halls of the lobbyist and equipment manufacturers who will no doubt play a major role in shaping the success of the network.
I expect the Public Safety Industry hasn't seen this much excitement since the 800 Re-banding plan was announced a few years ago. BTW, anyone know how re-banding is going? It's finished, right?
Marc
No comments:
Post a Comment