The Senate Commerce Committee has approved a bill designed to free up valuable wireless spectrum for a national public safety network, as well as provide the Federal Communications Commission with the authority to allow commercial uses of the spectrum when not in use.

The “Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act,” which was co-sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the West Virginia Democrat, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Texas Republican, was approved by a vote of 21 to 4 on Wednesday, and now moves to a full Senate vote.

The Senate Commerce Committee estimates auctions will generate a surplus of $10 billion, which will be used for deficit reduction

The bill’s advance represents an incremental but important step toward President Obama’s goal of creating a national, interoperable public safety broadband network, which has taken on greater urgency heading toward the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For years, policy-makers and interest groups have called for such a network to be available in times of national emergency.

A central component of the bill in the establishment of so-called “incentive auctions,” in which over-air-air TV broadcasters and other existing spectrum licensees wouldn’t be required to relinquish their airwaves but would be encouraged to do on a voluntary basis so in exchange for a portion of the proceeds for the sale of their spectrum.

The bill would also direct the FCC to establish a framework that would allow public safety officials to lease capacity on the network for commercial purposes on a “secondary, but preemptible basis.” In other words, rather than let the network remain idle in times when no emergency exists, the bill would provide for the use of the spectrum — for a price — by commercial carriers.

The funds raised by the incentive auctions, together with the funds raised by leasing the public safety network on a secondary basis, will be used for “the construction and maintenance of the nationwide, interoperable, wireless broadband public safety network,” the Commerce Committee, which Rockefeller chairs, said in a press release.

In addition, the Committee estimates that the auctions will generate a surplus of $10 billion, which will be used for deficit reduction by the U.S. Treasury.

“Today’s vote and the strong endorsement of the public safety network get us closer to our goal—making things safer for Americans and first responders,” Rockefeller said. “I strongly encourage my colleagues in the House to also move forward with this legislation so that we can sign it into law by September, the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”

Aneesh Chopra, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the Obama administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy praised the bill’s advancement.

“The Senate legislation makes good on a promise our Nation made to first responders following 9/11 that they would have the tools they need to keep our families safe, including a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network; it strengthens our competitiveness through investments in wireless R&D so the next generation of mobile broadband is invented here; and equips the Federal government with tools to utilize spectrum more effectively,” Chopra wrote in an offical blog post.

CTIA-The Wireless Association, a national trade group that represents wireless providers and device manufacturers, praised the bill.

“We greatly appreciate the focus the bill places on authorizing incentive auctions and making additional spectrum available for commercial wireless providers,” CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent said in a statement. “Making additional spectrum available is critical to ensuring that the wireless industry can continue to meet the exploding demand for wireless broadband services and remain a catalyst for economic growth.”

Public interest groups responded generally positively to the bill’s advancement, and in particular an amendment from Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Washington Democrat, which says that funds from spectrum auctions can be used “for the purpose of ensuring that unlicensed spectrum remains available in these frequency bands, nationwide, and in each local market.”

“Unlicensed spectrum” in this case refers to so-called “white spaces” — the radio frequencies in between TV channels — which can be used by new market entrants to create powerful wireless broadband networks. Proponents of “white space” argue that freeing up such spectrum could allow for the creation of so-called “Wi-Fi on steroids,” which could be used to provide broadband services for rural and under-served markets.

“We are pleased that the Senate Commerce Committee today chose to once again recognize the importance of the ‘white spaces’ to the technological innovation of the country as part of the legislation (S. 911) allocating spectrum for public safety,” Gigi Sohn, President and co-founder of Public Knowledge, a Washington, D.C,-based public interest group, said in a statement.

Photo: Wifi! By Florian Boyd/flickr. Used with gratitude via a Creative Commons license.