Is the 4.9 GHz ‘giveaway’ a bad idea? Verizon, Boston and New York think so.

Verizon is among several entities that told the Federal Communications Commission to hold off on any plan to grant FirstNet – and by extension AT&T – a nationwide license to the 4.9 GHz band. In case you aren't up to speed, here's the recap: The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) supports a proposal to assign the 4.9 GHz band to FirstNet, which runs on AT&T’s network. The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) opposes that plan and argues that the 4.9 GHz band should remain in the control of local authorities. For example, cities like New York and Boston use the 4.9 GHz band for transportation and emergency communications. Verizon executives recently met with FCC personnel to express support for CERCI’s positions in the 4.9 GHz proceeding, including its call for retaining local public safety control of the band and its opposition to the PSSA’s proposal to assign the 4.9 GHz band to FirstNet, either directly through a nationwide license or indirectly through a sharing agreement. If the agency does embrace PSSA’s proposal, then it needs to consider a “lawful way” to assign the spectrum through a competitive process, such as an auction or bidding process, rather than “gifting the spectrum” to one commercial provider.