Public Safety Broadband 4.9GHz Spectrum – A Look at the Opposition

By Staff Writer

As many of you know, there is a group opposing the 4.9 reallocation that appears to be financed and supported by the utilities industry, Verizon, and T-Mobile. (I suspect these groups are financing this effort simply because of the big guns in Washington DC who have been hired to lead their effort. That doesn’t come cheap, so someone is paying.) What is clear is that this is an effort by these commercial interests to get free spectrum for those utilities and for the carriers that don’t support FirstNet. This will certainly have a negative impact on your public safety broadband network.  The other thing that is clear is that they have hired former NYPD Chief Ken Corey to be the face of the organization. So, who is Ken Corey and what are his “creds”?

Chief Kenneth Corey, NYPD – Retired

• Chief of Department for 9 months from Jan 2022 – Nov 2022
• Chief of Training Dec 2020 – Dec 2021
• Assistant Chief Jan 2018 to Dec 2020, Commanding Officer Patrol Borough Staten Island
• Assistant Chief Dec 2015 to Dec 2018, Commanding Office First Deputy Commissioner
• Deputy Chief Oct 2013 to Dec 2015, Executive Officer Patrol Borough Brooklyn South
• Inspector Aug 2010 to Oct 2013, Commanding Officer Medical Division
• Deputy Inspector Jan 2009 to Aug 2010, Commanding Officer 76^th Precinct
• Captain Jun 2005 to Jan 2009, Commanding Officer Brooklyn South Investigation Unit
• Lieutenant Oct 1998 to Jun 2005, Commanding Officer Queens DA Detective Squad
• Sergeant Mar 1994 to Oct 1998
• Police Officer 1990 to Mar 1994

Clearly, Chief Corey is a skilled administrator and a lifelong servant to the city of New York. Those are accomplishments to be proud of and I am sure he is the kind of cop you want next to you in a street fight.

What he isn’t is…

• He has no noted experience in public safety communications.
• He has no experience in nationwide spectrum policy.
• He has no direct experience in the deployment and use of public safety communications.
• He has no experience in working outside of New York City on public safety communications.
• He has little to no understanding on how most of America’s public safety use spectrum and technology.
• He has no experience in firefighting, let alone Western wildland fire fighting.

So, when you hear Ken Corey talk about 4.9 GHz public safety broadband, please understand that he has little to no experience or real world understanding of how this spectrum works or what is best for our nation’s first responders. He only knows what he has been told by his commercial employers. I think it is quite obvious that he is a paid consultant who is trying to persuade America’s first responders to give away your spectrum to the utilities and to undermine the FirstNet Authority network in support of Verizon and T-Mobile. Indeed, these are the wireless carriers that never even bid for the opportunity to serve public safety and have always said FirstNet will fail. Once again, they are on the wrong side of public safety.