BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
DEBRA BOWEN, CHAIRWOMAN
SB 419 - Scott Hearing Date:
April 8, 2003 S
As Amended: April 2, 2003 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law allows the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to regulate the terms and conditions of services offered
by wireless phone companies.
This bill finds AT&T Wireless is the largest provider of a
particular wireless telecommunications technology, known as
Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), that is essential to law
enforcement agencies.
This bill further finds AT&T Wireless is discontinuing CDPD, but
isn't providing law enforcement agencies that rely on the
technology with sufficient notice of the change, thus
jeopardizing the ability of those agencies to perform their
duties.
This bill further finds the discontinuance of CDPD by AT&T
Wireless will make years of investment in CDPD infrastructure by
public safety agencies useless.
This bill further finds AT&T Wireless plans to replace CDPD with
a new technology which will be priced in a way which potentially
makes it far more expensive to use.
This bill requires the CPUC to provide for the conversion from
existing CDPD telecommunications systems used by public safety
departments, in a manner that won't jeopardize the public safety
or the safety of employees of public safety departments.
BACKGROUND
Law enforcement officers have always been equipped with
communications capabilities. Those capabilities have become
increasingly sophisticated and now include data transmission.
Law enforcement agencies and their officers now rely on the
ability to connect directly to a number of databases, including
the Department of Motor Vehicles' database, the Megan's Law
database, and the proprietary databases of the law enforcement
agencies themselves. Unlike the voice communications systems,
which are proprietary designs and often make each public safety
agency an island unable to communicate with sister agencies, the
data communications capabilities have relied on publicly
available communications systems provided by private companies,
such as AT&T Wireless. This shifts the burden of keeping the
technology current to the private company, but reduces the
control of the public safety agency over the communications
system.
AT&T Wireless, a spin-off of AT&T with no continued affiliation,
is the largest provider of a wireless technology known as
Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD). This technology is a
widely used data communications technology employed by many
public safety agencies. AT&T Wireless has announced it will
discontinue CDPD on July 1, 2004 and replace it with a new
service known as Global Mobile System/General Packet Radio
Service (GMS/GPRS). This new service is touted as being faster
with greater data transmission capacity.
Replacing CDPD with GMS/GPRS will impact customers in several
ways. First, GMS/GPRS coverage is different than CDPD coverage,
which may make the service less functional. Second, using
GMS/GPRS may also effect other non-related computer systems,
much as an upgrade to computer operating systems can affect
other computer applications. Third, CDPD is currently priced as
a flat-rate service. GMS/GPRS is contemplated to be priced on a
usage basis, which will no doubt affect the cost of the service.
Many public safety agencies view the replacement of CDPD with
some trepidation. While they welcome the faster data
transmission speed, they're concerned about a potential loss of
functionality because of changes in coverage patterns, glitches
in the interaction between GMS/GPRS and the computer
applications used in the patrol cars, and the potential for
increased ongoing costs due to the change in rate structure.
Public safety agencies view CDPD as an essential service. They
don't want to lose the capability provided by CDPD and don't
want to change to GMS/GPRS until they know it is reliable and
compatible.
COMMENTS
1.Time To Search For Other Options . The sponsor of SB 419, the
California State Sheriffs Association (CSSA), is concerned it
won't have time to research alternatives, identify budget
resources, and implement replacement technology if CDPD
disappears in July 2004.
It hopes that by bringing the CPUC in to oversee the
transition away from CDPD, AT&T Wireless will agree to extend
the July 1, 2004 termination date for CDPD and to provide
customer support for the transition to the new technology.
2.Investment In Danger Of Becoming Obsolete? The Attorney
General notes public safety agencies have relied on CDPD being
available until 2007 and made their technology investment
decisions based on that assumption. AT&T Wireless' July 2004
cutoff date will make a certain percentage of all of that
investment obsolete.
3.Requiring AT&T Wireless To Offer A Service . The bill requires
the CPUC to oversee the conversion from CDPD to the new
technology to make sure the change doesn't jeopardize the
public safety or the safety of employees of public safety
departments. It isn't clear whether the CPUC has the
authority to require a cellular company to offer a service it
doesn't want to provide. Federal law bars states from
regulating the entry of, or the rates charged by, any cellular
carrier. However, federal law reserves the rights of the
states to regulate other terms and conditions of cellular
service.
4.Why Not Switch? In competitive markets, a ratepayer's best
weapon against rising prices is the threat to cancel their
service with one provider and go over to a competitor offering
the same or similar service. For CDPD service, such threats
are empty because competitors don't offer a similar service
and aren't expected to for at least a year, and the existing
service is critical to the mission of law enforcement
agencies.
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
California State Sheriffs' Association
Support:
None on file
Oppose:
None on file
Randy Chinn
SB 419 Analysis
Hearing Date: April 8, 2003