Federal Communications Commission DA 10-2066
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband, 
Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 
MHz Band
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PS Docket No. 06-229
ORDER
Adopted:  October 27, 2010  Released:  October 27, 2010
By the Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. By this Order, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) grants the request 
for waiver by the District of Columbia (the District) for a 45-day extension to pay the administrative fee 
due to the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST) under the budget previously approved by the Bureau for 
administration of the long term de facto spectrum leases in the 700 MHz public safety broadband 
spectrum.1  
II. BACKGROUND
2. On May 12, 2010, the Commission granted, with conditions, twenty-one waiver Petitions 
filed by public safety entities (Petitioners) seeking early deployment of statewide or local public safety 
broadband networks in the 700 MHz public safety broadband spectrum (763-768 MHz and 793-798 
MHz).2 The Commission found that the Petitioners generally met the standard for waiver of the 
Commission’s rules and that the public interest warranted allowing early deployment, so long as the 
conditions imposed by that order were met.  Among other conditions, the Commission required that each 
Petitioner obtain a long term de facto spectrum lease from the PSST.3  
3. The Commission further required the PSST to submit for approval by the Bureau a budget 
for any proposed administrative fees to be paid by the Petitioners under the leases.4 On August 11, 2010, 
the Bureau approved the PSST’s proposed budget, finding the proposed $15,000 first year administrative 
fee to be reasonable.5 The Bureau appended the approved budget to the Budget Order, which included 
  
1 See District of Columbia Request for Waiver of Deadline to Submit Lease Administration Fee, PS Docket 06-229 
(filed Oct. 21, 2010) (Waiver Request).  
2 See Implementation of a Nationwide, Broadband, Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band, 25 
FCC Rcd 5145 (2010) (Waiver Order).
3 Id. at 5152-53, ¶¶ 20-24.
4 Id. at 5155, ¶ 33.  
5 See Implementation of a Nationwide, Broadband, Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band, PS 
Docket No. 06-229, Order, DA 10-1494 (PSHSB Aug. 11, 2010) (Budget Order).   
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the notation that administrative fee payments would be due 60-days after the approval of a Petitioner’s 
lease.6 The Bureau approved the submitted leases on September 2, 2010.7
III. DISCUSSION
4. On October 21, 2010, the District filed a request seeking a waiver of the 60-day deadline for 
submission of the administrative fee to the PSST.  The District states that while it is in the process of 
effectuating the payment, unforeseen administrative delays render it unable to make payment by 
November 1, 2010.8 The District “requests a waiver such that its payment of the fee within 45 days of 
November 1 (i.e., by December 15, 2010) be considered timely under FCC rules and the District’s lease 
with the PSST.”9 The District asserts that the requested delay is “minor,” and that the payment is already 
in process.10 The District states that failure to grant the waiver would frustrate the goal of deploying 
broadband to protect public health and safety, and that such a minor delay is vastly outweighed by the 
benefits that the District’s LTE network will provide to the public.11
5. To obtain a waiver of the Commission’s rules, a petitioner must demonstrate either that:  (i) 
the underlying purpose of the rule(s) would not be served or would be frustrated by application to the 
present case, and that a grant of the waiver would be in the public interest;12 or (ii) in view of unique or 
unusual factual circumstances of the instant case, application of the rule(s) would be inequitable, unduly 
burdensome, or contrary to the public interest, or the applicant has no reasonable alternative.13  An 
applicant seeking a waiver faces a high hurdle and must plead with particularity the facts and 
circumstances that warrant a waiver.14  Based on the information before us, we conclude that a grant of 
the District’s request is warranted under either standard.  
6. We reiterate, however, that the conditions imposed on the Petitioners, including those related 
to the administrative fee payments, cooperation with the PSST, working with the Emergency Response 
Interoperability Center (ERIC) and other related deadlines and reporting, were found necessary and 
appropriate to ensure that the Petitioners had sufficient planning and commitment to the deployment 
process.15 While we find that the limited waiver requested here is warranted under the circumstances 
presented by the District, we encourage all Petitioners to proceed diligently with each of the conditions 
imposed by the Waiver Order to ensure timely progress and open collaboration with all stakeholders.
  
6 Id. at app. A.  
7 Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Approves Long Term De Facto Transfer Spectrum Lease 
Agreements Filed by Conditional Waiver Recipients to Establish 700 MHz Interoperable Public Safety Wireless 
Broadband Networks, 25 FCC Rcd 12673 (PSHSB 2010) (Lease Approval PN).  
8 Waiver Request at 1.  
9 Id.
10 Id. at 2.  
11 Id.
12 47 C.F.R. § 1.925(b)(3)(i).
13 47 C.F.R. § 1.925(b)(3)(ii).
14 WAIT Radio v. FCC, 413 F.2d 1153, 1157 (D.C. Cir. 1969) (WAIT Radio), aff’d, 459 F.2d 1203 (1973), cert. 
denied, 409 U.S. 1027 (1972) (citing Rio Grande Family Radio Fellowship, Inc. v. FCC, 406 F.2d 664 (D.C. Cir. 
1968)); Birach Broad. Corp., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 1414, 1415 (2003).
15 See, e.g. Waiver Order at 5151, 5156, 5166, ¶¶ 18, 35, 64.  
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V. ORDERING CLAUSES
7. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 301, 303, 332, and 337 of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151, 154(i), 301, 303, 332, and 337, and 
Section 1.925 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.925, that the District of Columbia’s waiver 
request IS GRANTED.    
8. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections 0.191 and 0.392 of the 
Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.191, 0.392, and the Waiver Order, 25 FCC Rcd 5145, 5155, ¶ 33 
(2010).
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
James Arden Barnett, Jr., Rear Admiral (Ret.)
Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau