The conversation continues about how to best use the soon to be vacated portions of the 700 MHz spectrum: commercial interests or a national, interoperable emergency communication system. On July 15th, Wireless Week published an article laying out various sides of the discussion:

"Unless you're so partisan as to have lost all bearing on reality, you will notice this is a singular opportunity that would have the right propagation and bandwidth for a completely new network" to be built that would resolve the first responder communications issue, [Cyren Call Chairman Morgan] O'Brien said.

[CTIA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Paul] Garnett argued that the decision on the spectrum was made long ago, and that the discussion O'Brien wants should have happened then, not after an intricate deal was struck with broadcasters to vacate the spectrum to make way for its commercial use. The spectrum is needed to advance the goal of making broadband wireless services more available - a goal the White House and FCC have both championed, he added.

Click here to read the full article.

Radio Transcript
Interview on KFBK-AM Sacramento
Mornings with Chris and Kelly
July 11, 2006

Amy Nolan (Co-Host): The last few years have seen definitely our share of tragedy here in the U.S. - September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, and other emergencies have shown the need for more advanced means of communication. With this in mind, the cofounder of Nextel is proposing to create a national broadband network for use primarily by public safety agencies across the country.

Kelly Brothers (Co-Host): Joining us live this morning, Morgan O'Brien, cofounder of Nextel, the brains behind this initiative. Morgan, good morning, welcome to KFBK.

Morgan O'Brien: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Brothers: I think a lot of people are surprised that there is not some sort of national broadband network that can be used by emergency responders.

O'Brien: It is very surprising, actually. When you think of how much progress the wireless industry has made on the commercial side, it's all the more shocking how antiquated and behind the times we've allowed our public safety and first responder systems to become, through no fault of their own I should say.

Nolan: Okay, well then tell us what Nextel plans to do to fix it.

O'Brien: Okay, this is not Nextel, this is my next life after Nextel. This is Cyren Call. I spent about 18 years at Nextel and left there last year to pursue this new venture called Cyren Call. Let me give you a hypothetical if I could. If you assume that, God forbid, there was an airplane crash here in Sacramento. Within minutes of that crash if there were fatalities, there would be literally dozens of federal, state and county officials there trying to help out. And unless we do something, unless we do something to improve the communications systems available to those first responders, they really do not have the capability to control the chaos that is involved in that kind of a situation. Because many times the radio systems they're using are incompatible, they can't even talk to each other at the scene.

Nolan: Right, the crossover is just horrendous too. So, the remedy is Cyren Call?

O'Brien: Well, Cyren Call has a proposal. We put this proposal in front of the Federal Communications Commission about two months ago. And it involves two important elements. One is to take a significant piece of the radio waves that have been owned by the American public, and preserve those and make them available for a next generation broadband system. And then finance that -- not through the taxpayers, because I think we all know that there's a limit to what taxpayers can support - but to use the private sector in a unique public-private partnership. It's a very bold idea, very new, and we're out here in California trying to talk the folks out here who have been working in this area, and get their support.

Brothers: So is this a situation where you have to have all jurisdictions sign on, or else it's kind of worthless? I mean, does it really do any good to have 75 percent of the country signed on?

O'Brien: This is the unique thing about our proposal, Kelly. It's that the Federal Communications Commission, working through a rulemaking proposal, would make a decision that this is the nation's interest. There would be a single licensee created - which would be called the Public Safety Broadband Trust. And that single licensee would make arrangements, and these systems would be constructed. There wouldn't be the necessity to have the literally thousands of jurisdictions each make the decisions. The system would be designed and built for public safety, and then available for their use nationally.

Nolan: Well in creating this Morgan, in building this up, you must have gone through a myriad of agencies in suggestions and recommendations. How did you finally get this...

O'Brien: No matter how many there are, people are always shocked when they find out there are over 60,000 jurisdictions in the United States that have primary responsibility for public safety services. We of course would be perfectly happy to work with each of those 60,000 agencies, but it's not feasible. So we're working through the representatives of many of those public safety responders have, and we've gotten tremendous support so far. It's a long road, and this is pretty much the start of that road.

Nolan: So when you say this is the start, I mean really , how far in the future are we looking to this actually being something that is a user basis?

O'Brien: If we get the kind of support we're looking for both in Washington and around the country, this is a system that could start to be constructed in 2009. Which is - in the time frame that you look at for these major communications systems - is practically tomorrow.

Nolan: Absolutely. Morgan, thanks very much for your time, and best of luck.

O'Brien: I've enjoyed it, and if your listeners are interested at all we have a website, www.cyrencall.com, c-y-r-e-n-c-a-l-l.com, and we'd be happy to get their support.

Nolan: Thank Morgan so much. Hopefully we'll see this in the works sooner than 2009.

Recently, the Chicago Tribune spoke with Cyren Chairman Morgan O'Brien about his vision of the future of public safety communications. On July 3 the Tribune published an article about Cyren's plan:

It's ironic that as consumers enjoy an era of hypercommunication, public safety workers often are unable to talk to one another electronically at the scene of a disaster.

Federal, state and local authorities have plenty of walkie-talkies, but it's rare when they're engineered to communicate with each other. The country faces a rare opportunity to correct this problem, argues Morgan O'Brien, co-founder of Nextel Communications.

Read the full article here

Download a mp3 of the interview here

Paul W. Smith Show
WJR-AM News Radio Detroit
June 21, 2006

TEASER

Paul W. Smith (Host): ...the first responders couldn't communicate with each other. But even with our blackout, and other things that happened, and with Katrina, we still don't have a system in these United States where everybody, where all the first responders can communicate with each other, and there's a guy who's suggesting he has an answer.

And in fact, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge asked in an op-ed piece, "when will our first responders get the national communications they need, instead of testimonials, a few bucks, and repeated promises of change? The answer is now, if Congress and the Federal Communications Commission are willing to think and act anew."

We'll speak with Morgan O'Brien, the CEO of Cyren Call Communications, co-founder of Nextel Communications, so he knows a thing or two about using these bands for communicating. And he's proposing creation of a national broadband network for use primarily by public safety agencies across the nation. First responders having the opportunity, the ability to be able to communicate. We'll talk with him about that in just a moment.

INTERVIEW

Smith: ...all the problems that have happened, whether it was our blackout, whether it's a big pileup on the interstate, whatever it might be, we know that first responders don't always have the best ability to communicate with each other. It is a very real problem that needs to be dealt with. The U.S. still lacks a nationwide, seamless system enabling first responders from different jurisdictions and agencies to talk with each other in times of emergency. And somebody is doing something more than just talking about fixing the problem. The CEO of Cyren Call Communications, co-founder of Nextel Communications, Morgan O'Brien wants to do something about this. He's here to tell us all about it. Morgan, good morning.

O'Brien: Hey Paul, good morning.

Smith: It's hard to imagine that we're still in the same situation. Tom Ridge, former head of Homeland Security, saying, when are we going to stop with all the testimonials and the promises of change, and when are we going to do something about it? And you're trying to do something about it. Tell us about it.

O'Brien: Well, in January, I was lucky enough to put together some wireless industry veterans and some public safety veterans, we formed Cyren Call, and have put in front of the Federal Communications our proposal for fixing what we think is broken in public safety.

Smith: Why would have you any resistance to this sort of thing, when everyone knows we need this opportunity for this kind of communication?

O'Brien: I think any time you propose something brand new, particularly after a history of 60 years of addressing public safety and first responder communications in a different way, there's an inertia that has to be overcome. That's the first thing Paul. And secondly, to fix this, we need to get access to a valuable piece of the airwaves, and have that valuable piece of the airwaves preserved for the public, and that means that those airwaves won't be available for others, such as the commercial wireless players, whom I was happy to be associated with all those years. So, that creates a tension.

Smith: Well, the fact of the matter is, this is something for the common good. In fact, we have a Supreme Court that's letting people be kicked out of their houses so that their land can be taken away from them, so that somebody can put up a casino or something. For goodness sakes, this is really important nationwide, when you consider that some of this spectrum of the airwaves -- and you know more about this than I do Morgan -- but with all these television stations, even radio stations going to digital, some of these bands are becoming available, are they not?

O'Brien: You understand it perfectly. There is an amazing valuable, choice piece of airwaves real estate that has just been cleared, the broadcasters are moving to different channels, you're correct, for their digital. And it is that piece of property that we believe should be preserved for the public. And the part of this proposal that I like best is that while coming up with that spectrum, that airwaves, solves one half of the problem, another half of the problem, which is even more severe, is where do you get the billions of dollars necessary to build what public safety needs? And our proposal is to have the private sector build the facilities to the specifications of public safety, and thereby solve both problems at once. And that is our proposal.

Smith: Now, will we be able to use some of the wireless towers that are already out there, or would you be proposing building…one of the figures I saw is that it would take like 37,000 wireless towers to cover most of the U.S. population. Could we be sharing and using towers that are already up?

O'Brien: Absolutely Paul. Here's our proposal: to cover 99% of the U.S. population, which would just be an unheard-of capability to give to first responders and public safety. And it would be a much easier task now than it would have been ten years ago, because there are so many facilities available, and the culture in wireless has developed to share these facilities because of course, it's a disruptive process to build these towers…but necessary for this kind of performance.

Smith: We saw the story in the last couple of days showing that there are many cities not prepared for disasters, even only 11 states rated in the Homeland Security Department scorecard as having sufficient plans to respond to disasters: Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont. You'll notice that Michigan's not on that list. You're trying to help do something about that also, and I believe you're going to be meeting with Representatives John Dingell and Fred Upton to talk about this, and how we can get this fixed in Detroit and throughout the state of Michigan, so we can be on board with this kind of communications system that the country desperately needs.

O'Brien: Well, actually I'm meeting with the constituents that I hope to have help me actually sit down and talk with Congressman Upton and Congressman Dingell. They are, as you undoubtedly know, very important in the communications side of the federal government, and they'll be key players and decision makers.

Smith: Well, we appreciate what you're doing, and I hope you'll stay in touch with us, give us updates along the way Morgan.

O'Brien: Hey, thank you, and if your listeners are interested in helping, our website is www.cyrencall.com, c-y-r-e-n. And when somebody logs onto there, they can click a button and help us get our message to Congress

Smith: Alright, Cyren Call, all one word, c-y-r-e-n call.com. Thank you Morgan.

O'Brien: Hey Paul, thanks so much.

Smith: Morgan O'Brien, CEO of Cyren Call Communications, co-founder of Nextel Communications. Proposing the creation of a national broadband network for use primarily by public safety agencies across the nation, allowing first responders to be able to communicate, which you have to. These guys are putting together a business plan to do it.

In the June 5th edition of the Washington Times, Tom Ridge - former secretary of the Homeland Security Department - wrote a bold call to action for Congress and the FCC:

"When will our first responders get the national communications system they need instead of testimonials, a few bucks and repeated promises of change? The answer: now, if Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are willing to think and act anew ...

"The opportunity comes from spectrum that is being vacated by broadcasters and which is owned by the American people to use as we see fit. That opportunity, awaiting congressional action, exists in the form of a proposal that would allow the FCC to allocate 30 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum to create America's first nationwide broadband public-safety network."

Click here to read the full article.

Unique public-private partnership would create single platform to integrate public safety communications

May 17, 2006

Las Vegas, Nevada - Morgan O'Brien, chairman of Cyren Call Communications Corp. and a long-time champion of improved mobile communications solutions for the public safety community, today outlined his plan to create a new nationwide broadband network to solve the first responder communications crisis.

When first responders cannot talk to each other in emergency situations, the effects can be catastrophic," said O'Brien, a co-founder of Nextel, who spoke at the International Wireless Communications Expo here. "The equipment and technological capabilities governments and agencies provide - and that emergency personnel carry into storms, fires, explosions and other deadly situations - are inferior to what families have at home. This is unconscionable."

The plan calls for a reallocation of 30 MHz in the upper 700 MHz band of spectrum, which is half of the spectrum scheduled to be auctioned in 2008 for commercial use. O'Brien said it is uniquely suited for building a next generation broadband wireless network. Its signals can travel 30 miles, penetrate walls, and be sent and received without a direct line of sight. The network would connect all communities - urban and rural - in the event of an emergency, and it would have a satellite component so responders could stay in touch even if land-based systems failed. Given the spectrum's location, the nationwide network would enable future compatibility with already allocated public safety spectrum.

"This solution is practical, workable and very time sensitive," O'Brien said. "If the auction proceeds, we will have lost our last real chance to create a network that will protect our first responders and all the rest of us who depend on them during times of greatest need and duress."

The plan, which was submitted to the Federal Communications Commission April 27, calls for the FCC, with Congress' approval, to designate a public safety trust licensee and create a public-private partnership to finance the venture. The licensee would lease access to this spectrum to commercial operators who would agree to build and maintain the network. In exchange, they would have the right to use the excess capacity of the network not used by public safety.

The partnership, O'Brien said, would "produce powerful incentives for commercial operators to create a robust, competitive network that serves their own business interests while supplementing the existing flawed emergency communications system with a new platform that will serve our first responders well."O'Brien called on those in the room to get involved and join his effort to provide first-class communications for first responders: "Let's all get mad as hell and let's agree that we're not going to take this anymore! It's time for all of us to feel a sense of compelling rage that we have let this situation go on for so long."

"Business as usual is no longer acceptable," O'Brien continued. "It's time to show creativity and commitment to solve this problem."

Stressing the revolutionary nature of the proposal, O'Brien outlined 10 reasons why the proposed network is a groundbreaking improvement over the status quo. These include enabling all levels of government to share communications through one national network, offering multiple services on the same system, consolidating technology standards so emergency personnel can converse no matter where they are located and regardless of their jurisdiction, and introducing high-speed broadband to many rural areas.

Public Safety Broadband Trust proposed to manage spectrum for public's benefit

April 27, 2006

Washington , D.C. - A group of wireless industry and public safety communications veterans today proposed a bold new approach to creating a nationwide, seamless, next-generation network for improved public safety communications.

In a filing to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the group urged the FCC to establish a Public Safety Broadband Trust to hold the license for a key segment of spectrum in the 700 megahertz (MHz) band, and to structure innovative arrangements for its use, placing public safety needs first but requiring commercial usage secondarily. The proposal was filed by Cyren Call Communications Corporation, a new venture led by Morgan O'Brien, a co-founder of Nextel and long-time champion of improved mobile communications solutions for the public safety community.

Public Safety Broadband Trust

The proposal filed today by Cyren Call would pave the way to a workable, self-sustaining business model for public safety communications. The proposal also takes advantage of a unique, historic opportunity arising from the long-planned clearance of some of the nation's most useful frequencies, which broadcasters will vacate by 2009. Specifically, a 30 MHz block of spectrum in the 700 MHz band - presently allocated for commercial use and scheduled to be auctioned in 2008 - is ideally suited for a nationwide, next-generation public safety network because of its distinctive physical properties.

Compared to higher frequency bands, signals in the 700 MHz spectrum have the ability to travel further, can penetrate walls and outdoor foliage better, and can be sent and received without a direct line of sight. Given the spectrum's location, the nationwide network would enable future compatibility with already allocated public safety spectrum.

"This spectrum represents America 's best opportunity to foster state-of-the-art public safety communications," said O'Brien, who is Chairman of Cyren Call. "If this spectrum is auctioned to the private sector, the nation forever loses its best shot at fixing this issue once and for all."

The Cyren Call proposal specifically calls for:

• Establishing a Public Safety Broadband Trust: The FCC would exercise its authority to manage the public airwaves in the public interest by establishing a Public Safety Broadband Trust (PSBT) to hold the license for a 30 MHz block of cleared spectrum in the 700 MHz band and to structure innovative arrangements for its use, placing public safety needs first and making commercial usage secondary.
• Strengthening the Private Sector's Role: The PSBT would negotiate terms for long-term access to this spectrum with private sector entities that would agree to build and maintain a nationwide, next-generation network for public safety. In exchange, the private sector entities would gain the right to share the network and sell excess capacity for commercial purposes.
• Setting Incentives for a Robust, Competitive Network: The PSBT would set appropriate rules and technical standards to ensure backward compatibility to existing public safety systems, maximum interoperability, reliability, redundancy, competition, innovation and choices for public safety customers using this spectrum. The network would include a satellite-based element to ensure continuous operations when ground-based equipment is knocked out. Public safety agencies would have access to sufficient nationwide capacity to meet their current and future needs, and private companies would have the incentive to compete to offer a variety of interoperable hardware choices at the best prices.
• Creating Self-Sustaining Financing: Rather than demand more money from taxpayers to finance this network, the proposal would give private companies incentives to build and maintain a national network and provide the best services to public safety at the best prices.

Market Failure in Public Safety Communications

For decades, a core principle of national telecommunications policy has been to put the public interest and public safety above all other communications needs. In practice, however, the average household has more advanced telecommunications options than America 's first responders, and that gap continues to widen. Commercial telecommunications carriers offer America 's consumers mobile Web access, streaming video, and delivery of high-resolution digital images, while public safety agencies are often relegated to using outdated technology.

The problem stems from a mismatch between public safety's communications needs and the market's incentive to meet the needs of this critical audience. This "market failure" arises because nationwide there are estimated to be roughly three million public safety first responders - counting members of law enforcement, fire services, and emergency medical personnel - representing a proportionately very small population compared to the general population served by wireless carriers. Although small in number, these critical users require wireless networks that meet the highest standards for reliability and security, far higher than those for consumer wireless networks.

Public safety is also fragmented into smaller, geographically dispersed communities with widely varying and constrained budgetary resources. For public safety officials and elected leaders, this fragmentation creates constant challenges associated with securing adequate public funding for new public safety communications systems or for upgrades to these systems.

"There is enormous, bipartisan political support for giving America 's first responders more robust, interoperable communications tools, but until now we have not had the means," said O'Brien. "The public sector has not had the necessary funding or spectrum to make it happen, and the private sector has not had the incentives. Under this proposal, it will no longer be a question of whether we have the means to enact change, but whether we have the will."

Consistent with FCC Report

The Cyren Call proposal is consistent with a December 2005 report by the FCC, which exhaustively studied the spectrum needs of America's first responders and concluded that "public safety officials at the federal, state, local and regional levels commented that, 'even considering the actions the Commission has taken to date, the need for allocation of additional public safety spectrum in the 700 MHz band remains.'" They found that, "emergency response providers would benefit from the deployment of an integrated, interoperable nationwide network capable of delivering broadband services throughout the country."

Click here to read the FCC Filing

Mobile Radio Technology
April 27, 2006

Reuters
April 27, 2006

"More airwaves should be reserved for public safety and emergency workers in the United States to guarantee they can communicate with each other in disasters, wireless industry executives said on Thursday. One of the major issues that arose out of the rubble left behind by the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Hurricane Katrina was the difficulty emergency workers had talking via two-way radios."