Congress takes a serious look at Cyren Call

Published 12 February 2007

After an FCC rejection in November, the Commerce committee revisits the idea of creating a national wireless network for first responders; John McCain offers his support; critics, angry about the idea of giving away valuable spectrum, gird for battle

There is no such thing as a permanent “no” in Washington. No matter your agenda, your business, your product, or your party — your friends are certain to get into power eventually. Sometimes this happens sooner than later. It was as recent as November that we reported that the Federal Communications Commission had rejected an application from McLean, Virginia Cyren Call to develop a nationwide wireless network for first responders.

The FCC rejected the proposal because it believed it did not have the authority to rule on the merits of the plan. The decision gratified critics, who noted that the plan, which dedicated a valuable part of the spectrum to the system, did not properly recover the band’s inherent value and was a handout to Cyren Call. In fact, the spectrum in question — a 30 MHz section in the 700 MHz band — was already ordered by Congress to be sold in 2008, with the expectation that the Treasury would earn billions of dollars.

That was 9 November. With congress eager to look strong on emergency response, the Cyren Call proposal is getting attention again. Last week the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee took extensive testimony on the topic, and many are optimistic that it might just get done this session. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) is a noted supporter. So far, however, the federal government has not had much to brag about regarding interoperability. According to DHS, the government has spent $2.9 billion on the problems since 2001, yet only one in five communities of cities surveyed could communicate “seamlessly” with federal authorities.

Here is how the so-called “public-private partnership” would work: Cyren Cell would contract to manage the network, which would also carry consumer broadband signals (responders would receive priority in an emergency). Smaller broadband operators would foot the bill to build out the infrastructure, but would receive the rights to use the network in return. All in all, Cyren Cell expects that the system will take ten years to build and cost a whopping $17 billion — including a backup satellite system to make sure it was disaster-proof.

-read more in Amol Sharma and Amy Schatz’s Wall Street Journal report