[EAS] {Disarmed} D Block-- for public safety-- House bill-- Obama

[Gary Timm]

NEWS FLASH
The federal government has given up on auctioning off the D-Block and is planning to just GIVE it to Public Safety (at least that's the way I read this - pending passage of Congressional Bill).
So with Public Safety in charge of the spectrum allocation (if I'm not presuming too much) could we cut a deal with APCO or whoever to set aside nationwide EAS channels?
What does everyone make of the last sentence about "a single licensee"?
One license gives a Public Safety agency access to the entire D-Block?  That would sound like caos.
Need to track down the Bill to see what it says.
Gary Timm

Subject: D Block-- for public safety-- House bill-- Obama 






CQ HOMELAND SECURITY
Feb. 10, 2011 – 8:21 p.m.
 

D Block Turnover Gets Obama’s Backing, Legislative Vehicle
 

By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff
The leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee introduced a bill Thursday that would turn a valuable swath of broadband spectrum over to public safety to create a national first-responder network.
The announcement of the bill (HR 607) from Chairman Peter T. King, R-N.Y., and ranking Democrat Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., came the same day President Obama announced that he intends to pursue the same course of action. The president’s new “Wireless Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative” would put $3.2 billion toward reallocating the spectrum in the 700 MHz range known as the D Block, $7 billion for building the network and $500 million for research and technical development.
For years, lawmakers and security officials have debated what to do with the D Block, and whether it could be used as the basis for a nationwide, interoperable public safety network — something recommended by the Sept. 11 commission. 
The Federal Communications Commission had originally developed a plan to auction the block off to communications carriers, with the stipulation that they create such a network, but Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a January speech that the administration had opted to give the spectrum directly to public safety, a move that some in Congress and the emergency management community had sought for years. King and Thompson said they were among the advocates for turning it over.
“This legislation is exactly what America ’s first responders have long advocated, so I welcome President Obama’s support,” King said. “Allocation of the D Block to public safety will ensure that our nation’s first responders have sufficient spectrum to develop a wireless broadband network. Public safety officials must have access to new technologies to perform increasingly complex duties.”
King introduced a similar measure in the last session. Thompson said lawmakers have been working on a solution to the network issue for a decade.
“A unified vision for how to achieve this elusive capability has finally emerged,” he said. “As a former volunteer firefighter, I take great pride in the role that this committee has played in amplifying the voices of the first-responder community. Our efforts have secured, for the first time, administration support for investing significant resources towards ensuring that a nationwide network is built out.
The bill would designate a single a single licensee for the entirety of the public safety broadband spectrum. It would include the 10 MHz currently dedicated to public safety, as well as the 10 MHz D Block.
Rob Margetta can be reached at rmargetta at cq.com 

Source: CQ Homeland Security 
© 2011 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.