STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN Re: Amendment of Part 90 of the Commission’s Rules, WP Docket No. 07-100; Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband, Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band, PS Docket No. 06-229; Service Rules for the 698-746, 747-762 and 777-792 MHz Bands, WT Docket No. 06-150 I commend the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau for presenting us with an item that contains recommendations to encourage greater deployment of fixed and mobile public safety services in the 4.9 GHz band. Ever since the National Broadband Plan’s release, in March of 2010, one of the highest priorities for the Commission has been to find new ways to repurpose more spectrum for commercial mobile services. Since spectrum has become such a premium, when the Commission finds that a particular spectrum band is being underutilized, it is imperative that the agency encourages greater use of this precious resource. This is as true for spectrum allocated to public safety as it is for spectrum allocated for commercial services. When the Commission first allocated 50 megahertz of spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band for fixed and mobile services, it intended to give the public safety community maximum access to emerging broadband technologies. The agency anticipated that this band would support new broadband applications such as high-speed digital technologies for scene management and dispatch operations. Unfortunately, the band has not led to the development of the advanced services the Commission originally anticipated. Local public safety entities have not taken advantage of this band as much we expected, and while there are currently more than 87,000 public safety jurisdictions, fewer than 3 percent hold licenses in the 4.9 GHz band. I commend the staff for presenting a number of creative proposals that could encourage greater deployment of services for this band. These recommendations include: expanding eligibility to more than just public safety entities; adopting standards to promote interoperability of equipment in the band; and using the band for wireless backhaul services that could help the deployment of the nationwide public safety network. It is also important to note that the item seeks to address issues such as the need for better coordination among licensees that were raised in response to a Further Notice that the Commission released in 2009. I encourage all relevant stakeholders to participate in this proceeding. I would like to thank David Turetsky, the new Chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and his staff for presenting us with such a thorough discussion of the relevant technical issues.