Cyren Call Chairman Morgan O'Brien was courting rural operators last week, urging them to band together and bid on the D-block 700 MHz band the FCC will likely re-auction this fall. During the Rural Cellular Association's 16th Annual Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas, O'Brien said rural operators would gain by being able to offer advanced services to their end users, serving a new customer base via public safety, bypassing roaming deals with big operators and competing better against nationwide operators.
Earlier this year, the FCC's auction failed to raise the $1.3 billion reserve price for the D Block of spectrum, which was set aside for a public-private network that would solve public safety interoperability problems nationwide. Cyren call is the Public Safety Spectrum Trust's adviser. The PSST is an organization chosen by the FCC to serve as the national public-safety licensee for 700 MHz broadband services. Cyren Call was tapped to settle the commercial/public-safety details.
For more about Cyren's Call's pitch to rural operators:
- check out this RCR Wireless News article