Public Safety

Cyren Call urges rural operators to bid on D block

Mon, 05 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Cyren Call Chairman Morgan O'Brien was courting rural operators last week, urging them to band together and bid on the D-block 700 MHz band the FCC will likely re-auction this fall. During the Rural Cellular Association's 16th Annual Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas, O'Brien said rural operators would gain by being able to offer advanced services to their end users, serving a new customer base via public safety, bypassing roaming deals with big operators and competing better against nationwide operators.

Earlier this year, the FCC's auction failed to raise the $1.3 billion reserve price for the D Block of spectrum, which was set aside for a public-private network that would solve public safety interoperability problems nationwide. Cyren call is the Public Safety Spectrum Trust's adviser. The PSST is an organization chosen by the FCC to serve as the national public-safety licensee for 700 MHz broadband services. Cyren Call was tapped to settle the commercial/public-safety details.

For more about Cyren's Call's pitch to rural operators:
- check out this RCR Wireless News article

Related articles:
- 700 MHz auction finally over
- What does public safety do now?

Report: Public safety partly to blame for D-block failure

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:55 -0400

A report from the FCC inspector general concluded that the requirement for lease payments of about $500 million contributed to the failure of the D-block auction. No serious bidders emerged for the spectrum, which was reserved for a public-private partnership that would give first responders a national wireless broadband network.

The inspector general's report was based on interviews with FCC staffers, public safety and companies such as Frontline Wireless--which had planned on bidding for the spectrum but couldn't raise enough money. The report concluded that demand from public safety, via Cyren Call, which was appointed to manage negotiations, discouraged bidding. The report also called into question the commercial viability of such a public-private partnership given the way the FCC constructed the rules for the band.

According to the report, "Cyren Call's statements regarding a $50 million-per-year payment was not the deciding factor in Frontline's decision not to bid on the D-Block, but was merely one of many concerns it had regarding the auction."

For more about the inspector general's report:
- check out this article from Dow Jones

Related articles:
Cyren Call says it's not to blame for Fronline's end D-block report
Frontline closes doors; D-block auction in question Report on Frontline

Minneapolis proves muni-WiFi model can work

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:59:53 -0400

Minneapolis' muni-WiFi network, which covers a 57-square-mile area, is meeting and surpassing expectations set by the city. A recent test conducted by independent third-party consulting firm Novarum found that the Minneapolis network consistently delivered reliable speeds for both 802.11n and 802.11g customers that rival cable and exceed 3G and DSL speeds. BelAir Networks, the city of Minneapolis and USI Wireless were partners involved in the project.

"We believe the Minneapolis area coverage is the biggest in the world," BelAir CTO Stephen Rayment said in an interview with InformationWeek. "We have 450 deployments around the world, but Minneapolis is our poster child. The network delivers 3 Mbps total in up- and downlinks."

The network showed its value early when it provided the only communications link when the I-35W bridge collapsed last year.

In addition to the value of the network for public-safety use, city workers can purchase broadband for a cheaper rate of $12 a month and consumers can get service for $20 a month.

For more about the Minneapolis WiFi network:
- read this InformationWeek article

Related article:
Minneapolis muni-WiFi to roll out March 11 Report on muni WiFi in Minneapolis

Cyren Call says it's not to blame for Frontline's end

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Cyren Call Communications addressed news reports and blog postings that suggested it caused the end of Frontline Wireless, the entity that had hopes of bidding in the D-block auction to offer a commercial/public-safety wireless network but subsequently couldn't raise enough money to do so. Cyren Call said it never demanded long-term payments as a condition for a winning bidder of D-block band as reports suggested. Cyren call is the Public Safety Spectrum Trust's adviser. The PSST is an organization chosen by the FCC to serve as the national public-safety licensee for 700 MHz broadband services. Cyren Call was tapped to settle the commercial/public-safety details.

"Anyone stating or implying that I or any member of Cyren Call or the Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corp. 'demanded' a spectrum lease payment is lying. Furthermore, anyone suggesting that any spectrum lease payment would be paid to Cyren Call is lying," said Cyren Call Chairman Morgan O'Brien.

The FCC failed to secure the minimum $1.33-billion bid for the D-block band and is mulling the options.

To read more about Cyren Call's comments:
- check out this article from RCR Wireless News

Related articles:
Frontline closes doors; D-block auction in question Report
FCC commish will relook at D block Report

700 MHz auction finally over

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

After 261 rounds of bidding and more than $19.59 billion in provisionally winning bids, the 700 MHz auction (officially Auction 73) is over. Four out of the five spectrum blocks achieved their reserve prices, which enabled the auction to more than double expected revenues: the congressional estimate for the auction was $10.2 billion. During the past 15 years the FCC has conducted 68 spectrum auctions, which collectively generated $19.1 billion. Not only did the 700 MHz auction raise more money than any FCC spectrum auction before it, the latest auction managed to raise more than every other auction combined. The proceeds from the auction will be transferred to the U.S. Treasury by the end of June, and, according to the FCC, the money raised will support public safety and the digital television transition.

The four spectrum blocks that met their reserve prices were the Upper C Block, the A Block, B Block and the E Block. The winning bids for the C Block were on the 12 regional licenses that make it up rather than the nationwide package. The 12 bids total $4.75 billion, more than the C Block's reserve of $4.6 billion. Provisionally winning bids on the A, B, and E Blocks were $3.96 billion, $9.14 billion and $1.27 billion, respectively. Those three blocks collectively more than doubled their reserve price of $8.72 billion.

The D Block, of course, languished during the 700 MHz spectrum auction, with only one bid during the first round. Because the bid was well under the block's $1.3 billion reserve price. In a statement yesterday, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that "the FCC is now evaluating its options for this spectrum" and that "the Commission remains committed to ensuring that we work to solve public safety's interoperability challenges."

No word yet on whether the FCC will start Auction 76, the Plan B auction which was to take place after Auction 73 in the case that a spectrum block failed to meet its reserve price. The FCC will have to decide which rules if any it would remove from the D Block and/or what it's new reserve price should be.

The FCC will announce the winning bidders in the coming weeks.

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- 700 MHz auction reaches $19 billion Report