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700 MHz Commercial and Public Safety Spectrum
SERVICE RULES
III. 700 MHZ PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
The FCC mandated that the Public Safety Broadband licensee and the Upper 700 MHz Block D licensee must enter into a network sharing agreement ("NSA") for the purpose of creating a scalable public safety wireless network for use in time of emergency. Negotiations must commence within 30 days of 1) the Upper 700 MHz Block D licensee filing its long form application or 2) the FCC designating the Public Safety Broadband Licensee, whichever is later. Negotiations of the NSA must be completed within six months, and the NSA is subject to the approval of the FCC. The FCC will mediate, and if necessary, arbitrate any issues that are causing an impasse to the negotiations. The term of the NSA is to be commensurate with the term of the license, (ten years commencing on February 17, 2009). Compliance with the NSA will be a condition of the Upper 700 MHz Block D license.
a. Spectrum Leasing
Under the FCC's rules, the NSA must include a requirement that the Public Safety Broadband licensee lease its spectrum to the Upper 700 MHz Block D licensee on a secondary basis, with the ability of public safety to preempt the use of the spectrum at any time without notice and commercial users may not cause interference to public safety users and must accept interference from public safety users. The NSA must also provide for the 700 MHz D Block licensee to lease the use of its spectrum to the Public Safety Broadband licensee on a priority basis during times of emergency.
b. Shared Network Build-Out
The NSA must also include terms requiring the Upper 700 MHz D Block licensee to build out its network to be shared with the Public Safety Broadband Licensee and in conformity with public safety network specifications in terms of equipment, technology, reliability, robustness, and security. It must also satisfy the needs of the public safety users, as represented by the Public Safety Broadband licensee. The Public Safety Broadband licensee must have operational control of the network to the extent necessary to ensure public safety requirements are met. In addition, at least one model handset must be made available to the Public Safety Broadband Licensee that includes an integrated satellite solution capable of operating on both the 700 MHz public safety broadband spectrum and mobile satellite frequencies.
