That includes revamping plans to create a nationwide public-safety network. To build such a network, estimated to cost at least $6 billion, the FCC has tried to lure a private company by allowing it to share those airwaves with emergency workers.
Congress gave public safety some of the airwaves being abandoned by TV stations as part of the 2009 switch to all-digital signals. In the auction of the rest of the spectrum, the FCC offered a piece next to the public-safety portion that could be combined to produce a joint network. The catch: Commercial customers would give priority to police and firefighters during emergencies.
But that piece, called the D block, received only one bid, for $472 million, far below the $1.3- billion minimum.
Democrats and Republicans warned that the country was living on borrowed time as it tried to fix the major communications problems that emergency workers faced during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina.
Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas) and some other Republicans pushed a plan to auction the D block solely for commercial use. They say removing the sharing requirement would generate billions of dollars to help pay for a separate public-safety network. But Martin said Congress would have to authorize such a plan.
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said a public/private partnership was the best option and could work if the FCC adjusted the rules to encourage more bidders. He suggested selling the public-safety spectrum in six regional chunks.
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jim.puzzanghera @latimes.com
