By John Dunbar
The Associated Press

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, left, looks on as commissioner Michael J. Copps, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington Feb. 1, 2007, before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing assessing the communications marketplace relating to the FCC.

WASHINGTON — A congressional panel wants to know why a plan aimed at using public airwaves and private money to create a nationwide emergency communications network failed to attract any interest in an otherwise successful spectrum auction.

The House Energy and Commerce telecommunications and the Internet subcommittee on Tuesday was to hear from all five members of the Federal Communications Commission as well as key figures in the behind-the-scenes negotiations that failed to lead to an agreement to construct the wireless broadband network.

The recently completed auction of a portion of the public airwaves, while raising a record $19.1 billion, failed to attract a bidder to build the network.

Disasters like Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, revealed limitations of the nation's emergency communications networks, like the inability of police and firefighters to communicate with one another.

Ideally, a new network would help solve the interoperability problem and avail emergency personnel of many of the advances in wireless technology that are available to commercial users.

Among the witnesses scheduled to testify is wireless industry pioneer Morgan O'Brien, a co-founder of Nextel Communications Inc., now chairman of a new company called Cyren Call. O'Brien was the first to aggressively advocate the idea of using publicly owned spectrum to lure private investors to build a national emergency network.

O'Brien's plan was shot down last year on Capitol Hill over fears it would endanger the success of the spectrum auction. O'Brien is still involved because of an agreement his company signed to act as adviser for the Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corp., a nonprofit run by safety officials that oversees the public portion of the public-private partnership.

The FCC approved the emergency communications plan last summer.

It largely incorporates a proposal developed by Frontline Wireless LLC — a company fronted by a former FCC chairman and high-tech industry investors. Frontline's concept was similar to Cyren Call's, but called for less spectrum and did not required congressional approval.

Under the plan, the FCC set aside about one-sixth of the airwaves recently auctioned. The "D block" would have been combined with a roughly equal portion of spectrum controlled by the public safety trust to create a shared network.

The winning D block bidder, in exchange for use of the public safety spectrum, would build the network and make a profit by selling access to wireless service providers.

But about two weeks before the auction was to begin, Frontline announced it was "closed for business." No other bidders emerged to pledge the minimum $1.33 billion needed to win the public safety block.

The FCC has opened an investigation into a claim that O'Brien's involvement as adviser for the public safety trust discouraged bidders from participating. O'Brien has denied the allegations. Frontline says it did not bid because it couldn't raise the money.

If the FCC wants to make the public-private emergency network plan work, it will have to devise a new plan that would be attractive to a deep-pocketed investor.

The commission could lower or eliminate the minimum required bid for the block. It could also ease the stiff financial penalty that would apply if the bidder is unable to reach an agreement with the public safety trust.

The unpopular way to proceed would be to remove the public safety requirements from the D block and simply auction it to the highest bidder. Pressure to pursue that option has lessened, thanks to the financial success of the auction.