The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing with the Federal Communications Commission to analyze the 700MHz spectrum auction.

The National Volunteer Fire Council said that one major component of the auction was an area of spectrum known as the D Block, which is important for the volunteer emergency services. If sold, the D Block would use 10MHz of spectrum specifically for public safety and the development of an interoperable communications system.

As a whole, the auction raised $19.1 billion and was seen as a success, but the D Block only produced one bid for $472 million, far below the $1.33 billion reserve price set by the FCC, NVFC reported. The subcommittee questioned FCC officials in an attempt to identify, and ultimately correct, the auctions problems and to discuss future action. The FCC rules that were established for the public-safety partnership were called into question, but FCC said it had few options.

The public-safety community does not have the necessary funds to construct its own nationwide interoperable communication system, and Congress has been unwilling to allocate the funds from the federal treasury, NVFC said. It was resolved that the D Block approach was the most viable, and the consensus of the subcommittee members and the FCC was to move forward.

Several options were discussed, including increased FCC involvement in negotiations, holding an auction without tying the D Block to the public-safety spectrum, or auctioning the D Block through regional licenses instead of one nationwide license. Regardless, FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin indicated that a new auction of any kind would likely not take place before the fourth quarter of this year.