On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications met to discuss various issues, chiefly revolving around the recent FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction.  The committee discussed whether the failure to sell the D-block -- the public safety section -- constituted a failure for the entire auction.

The general consensus reached was that the overall $19.6B USD haul from the auction clearly showed that it was a clear success.  However, many members felt that individually, the D blocks failure to sell or generate interest was a major failure, though not enough to ruin the rest of the successful auction.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it was brought to the Congress's attention the disturbingly disjointed and unconnected public safety networks in America.  These flaws seriously hinder the networks' abilities to deliver vitally emergency information when it is most needed.

While some advocated a purely government subsidized network, the President and Congress failed to consent to give the authority or funding necessary for such a program.  FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stated regretfully, "The simple reality is that public safety does not have the funds to build a network.  It would have been better to take the auction proceeds and provide the public-safety community with the resources needed to build their own interoperable network. But we do not have the authority to directly fund such a network. As a result, the public-private partnership was the only means available to us to address this crucial issue."

By selling the D block spectrum, the government hoped to create a network in which commercial and public safety interests coexisted.  The plan was that between the selling price, with a reserve of $1.3B USD, and other possible revenue generated from the commercial sector, the government would be able to fund the public safety section of the network.  This would allow for cohesive national coverage at last.

However, the auction failed miserably during the auction's early days, with no serious bids placed.  While the Congress agrees that the auction went nowhere, they resorted to largely partisan bickering, and failed to produce a meaningful strategy.  Republican congressmen Joe Barton and Cliff Stearns recommended the block be re-auctioned and the proceeds be used to build a public safety network.  Democrat John Dingell opposed such a measure, but offered no better alternative.

All party politics aside, whether there is a second auction or not seems like it may be a moot point as there is little interest in the business community for the block.  The government at some point may have to face the hard reality that business simply isn't interested in co-funding a public safety network, and the government either has to make a serious financial commitment of its own, or accept that it is leaving the nation in an inherently insecure state.