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By planning carefully for upcoming spectrum relocation initiatives and focusing on opportunities, federal agency IT leaders may be able to modernize outdated systems.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concluded its first auction of broadband spectrum on Jan. 29—its first such auction in six years—selling 1,611 licenses to private sector mobile carriers. Auction 97, as it was called, resulted in 31 bids totaling $41.3 billion for the sale of 65 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum in the AWS-3 band, which had been used by the government. The bids were dramatically higher than anticipated, due primarily to an increasingly worrisome mobile spectrum shortage that could, if left unaddressed, stifle innovation throughout the private sector and even dampen economic growth.

Meanwhile, federal CIOs have transition plans and budgets in place to repurpose (or relocate) those portions of federally held spectrum to be licensed to winning bidders after Auction 97 closes.

If past relocation efforts offer any insight into how this next round could play out, the private sector may be waiting a while to get its new spectrum. According to a 2013 report by the Government Accountability Office to the Senate Armed Services Committee, following the last major FCC spectrum auction, some federal agencies underestimated the costs—and the time required—to relocate communication systems from the 1710-1755 MHz band, although auction revenues appeared to have exceeded relocation costs by more than $5 billion. “As of March 2013, actual relocation costs have exceeded estimates by about $474 million, or 47 percent,” the report states.

“Federal agency CIOs and telecommunications directors have an opportunity to optimize their spectrum relocation efforts by carefully planning how they will allocate the time, talent, and budget needed to meet relocation goals and timelines,” observes Brett Haan, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP. “No agency CIO wants to be in a position of understating the resources required to complete a project of this importance.”

Haan says that through careful, comprehensive planning and budgeting, federal CIOs can likely avoid that fate. “Federal agencies should leverage lessons learned from the previous nationwide relocation efforts to avoid any unintended consequences, including cost overruns and missed deadlines,” he notes. “Federal CIOs should also view spectrum relocation as an opportunity to use the spectrum their agencies are retaining more efficiently, and to adopt newer, and where possible, more powerful commercial technological capabilities. For example, there are spectrally efficient surveillance tools on the market that can identify and utilize channels with greater available spectrum.”

Plan and Plan Again

The federal government relies on spectrum to support numerous missions. For example, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deploys surveillance cameras in various locations, and equips agents with body cameras and mobile communications devices—all technologies that use the mobile spectrum currently being auctioned off. “When the auction concludes, DHS operations and technology teams across several of its departments will begin working to reprogram current equipment to use alternate frequencies or replace it altogether. The DHS will then formally vacate auctioned spectrum bands to private use,” says Harshal Bhalerao, a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting LLP. “This is an extremely complex undertaking. You are talking about reprogramming or replacing hundreds of thousands of pieces of equipment within an estimated transition timeline of 36 to 42 months. And this is just one agency—similar processes must take place at the departments of Justice, Defense, Commerce, the Interior, and others.”

The good news for agency CIOs, says Bhalerao, is that roughly $5.1 billion from auction proceeds are being allocated to cover agency relocation costs. Moreover, CIOs still have time to undertake detailed planning that can help them not only avoid relocation missteps, but also leverage their talent and budgetary resources to enhance their operations.

Haan and Bhalerao suggest federal CIOs take the following steps:

Shore up preliminary transition plans. Funds allocated to cover relocation costs will be released to agencies in May, according to Haan. Between now and then, CIOs have a window of opportunity to work with appropriate technologists and others to review and, if necessary, enhance the transition plans they have already submitted to the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). “All agencies affected by Auction 97 were required to do some level of impact assessment and develop transition plans,” says Haan, “but for some these efforts were only preliminary. There’s more work to be done to prepare to reprogram or replace thousands of video cameras across the country while providing uninterrupted mission capabilities.”

Look for opportunities to modernize operations and plan for the future. As part of their impact assessments and planning, CIOs should evaluate how they can leverage relocation initiatives—and the budget being provided—to implement enhanced solutions and optimize their IT operations for long-term success. “Many agencies use equipment and systems that are either at, or approaching the end of their useful lives,” says Bhalerao. “By investing in the latest technologies, CIOs may be able to do much more with considerably less investment. This also offers a rare opportunity to take a holistic view of communication capabilities relative to agency missions.” To this end, Bhalerao suggests CIOs consider how they might use spectrally efficient equipment, the impacts to equipment inventories, and opportunities to rationalize the IT capability portfolio beyond traditional silos. “They may also be able to build more streamlined capabilities around new technologies to manage video and audio surveillance data with greater efficiencies throughout the organization.”

The danger, notes Haan, is that agencies could approach this latest round of spectrum relocation as just another operational change. Indeed, IT groups that have not been through this before might not appreciate the value careful planning can add to such a complex transition. “They could also be setting themselves up for a turbulent transition period,” he says. “There will be significant commercial and political pressure on CIOs to move their agencies off these bands as quickly as possible. When companies pay more than $45 billion for broadband licenses, they don’t want to wait for ROI.”

— Van Hitch, specialist leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP (former CIO, U.S. Department of Justice) and Cyrus Gerami, consultant, Deloitte Consulting, also contributed to this story.

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