[Satellite News 07-30-08] The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) has urged the U.S. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to continue encouraging and facilitating the incorporation of satellite-based communications capability into public safety networks.
    The SIA wants the FCC to maintain its requirement that holders of D Block spectrum licenses make available to public safety users at least one handset that includes a seamlessly integrated satellite solution, according to Jennifer Manner, vice president of regulatory affairs for Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) and chairwoman of SIA.
    The SIA also is asking the FCC grant the D Block licensee flexibility in meeting license obligations such as build-out and radiation-hardening requirements if the licensee integrates a satellite component as an additional network layer with the shared 700-megahertz public-private communications infrastructure, Manner said at the FCC’s July 30 hearing, “Overcoming Barriers to Communications Financing.” The meeting, held in Brooklyn, N.Y., focused on securing equity and hurdles to obtaining funding.
“The record shows that this can be accomplished at very little additional cost – no more than roughly $5 in the cost of manufacturing a public safety radio,” said Manner. “No [political] party in the prior proceeding opposed the adoption of this requirement.”
    The FCC agreed with Manner, assessing the incremental cost of such a requirement as “relatively small.” In an assessment of satellite’s role in public safety, the FCC asserted that availability of satellite-based communications capabilities would serve to bolster the availability, robustness and survivability of public safety communications networks, particularly in circumstances where the safety and security of Americans are at stake. 
    Manners told the commission that these conclusions are valid and outlined the ways in which satellite communications benefit public safety. “Satellite services provide immediately available, additional communications capacity in such areas to the benefit of public safety users who would otherwise have to wait potentially years for the build-out of the public safety communications network and in many places can be done more cost-effectively then any terrestrial technology,” she said. “In addition, due to their nationwide footprint, satellites are the most effective technology for providing point-to-multipoint services such as dispatch service over a wide area.” 
    One of the biggest benefits the satellite networks bring to the table is their relative immunity to the kinds of natural and man-made disasters that affect terrestrial infrastructure, said Manners. “When local wireline, wireless and broadcast terrestrial-based communications systems were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, satellite systems were still able to provide critical communications capabilities,” she said.
    Manner also acknowledged that the satellite industry has its problems. “In the past, the ability of satellite providers to offer emergency service has been limited by not having been adequately included in pre-disaster planning,” said Manner. “In the midst of the chaos that accompanies most emergencies, satellite equipment was sometimes not deployed as quickly or efficiently as it otherwise could have been due to a lack of appropriate network planning and configuration, and some users were unfamiliar with its operation.”
    The SIA asserted that deployment problems could have been averted if emergency responders had been more capable of communicating with satellite networks when terrestrial service became unavailable. “More widespread deployment of dual-mode devices to public safety agencies would ensure that first responders can communicate anywhere at any time,” said Manner. “Moreover, it would enable first responders to have confidence that they could have an alternate means of communications in any remote or hard to reach area in routine conditions, not just when the terrestrial infrastructure is experiencing outages.”
    Manners concluded her statement with a discussion on build out. “The degree of build-out flexibility granted to the D Block licensee could be based on a showing by the D Block licensee of the robustness of the satellite offering and the substitutability of the satellite offering for the terrestrial services used by public safety entities,” she said. The factors would include: the capabilities of the satellite component and geographic coverage of the satellite service.
    “The D Block licensee’s ability to exercise this option would alleviate some of the financial pressure associated with the high cost of an accelerated build-out requirement, make essential communications services available much sooner and to more public safety users, increase network reliability, robustness and interoperability, and help generate economies of scale for the production of satellite only and dual-mode satellite/terrestrial equipment,” said Manner.