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Commentary Newsletters


Public safety 700 MHz has come a long way, but more progress is needed

Public safety 700 MHz has come a long way, but more progress is needed

Most Beltway sources believe the bigger resistance will come from the House, which is controlled by Republicans, most of which were elected in November while promising to halt big government spending and reduce the federal deficit. On the surface, such a mindset doesn’t seem to mesh with the notion of dedicating $10 billion to $13 billion in future auction proceeds to a new federal program that would help finance public-safety LTE networks.
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 27th January 2011

“It’s about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device …”

It was only a half sentence in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but the mere mention of the need for public-safety broadband infrastructure in such a high-profile speech speaks volumes about the awareness the administration has for a subject that has been a focal point for the first-responder community during the last year.

Even more telling than Obama’s statement was a conference call that public-safety officials had just hours before the State of the Union with Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. During the call, the administration representatives said that the White House supports reallocation of the 700 MHz D Block to public safety and funding via future spectrum-auction proceeds to help pay for first-responder LTE network deployments.

Compare those commitments to a year ago, when first-responder representatives made their initial orchestrated push on Capitol Hill in an effort to raise awareness among lawmakers about the need for the D Block, which is adjacent to the 10 MHz swath of public-safety broadband spectrum. At the time, FCC officials seemed intent on auctioning the D Block — as current law mandates — as quickly as possible.

“It’s an astonishing turnaround,”said Charles Dowd, deputy chief for New York Police Department.

However, one person who is not surprised by the change in the political winds is Dowd, who said he has been confident that the position of the vast majority of public-safety organizations would gain support in Washington, D.C., if federal officials could be educated on the subject.

In the Senate, public safety has the support of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that must consider a D Block reallocation bill. Rockefeller and five Democratic co-sponsors reintroduced D Block reallocation legislation this week. In addition, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) last year introduced similar legislation with a slightly different funding mechanism.

Most Beltway sources believe the bigger resistance will come from the House, which is controlled by Republicans, most of which were elected in November while promising to halt big government spending and reduce the federal deficit. On the surface, such a mindset doesn’t seem to mesh with the notion of dedicating $10 billion to $13 billion in future auction proceeds to a new federal program that would help finance public-safety LTE networks.

Many public-safety officials note that the deficit is growing at a rate of roughly $3 billion per day, so dedicating the projected auction proceeds to the U.S. Treasury would represent less than a week’s worth of interest on the deficit. On the other hand, giving first responders access to mobile-broadband applications that can help them do their jobs better and more efficiently promises to make the U.S. safer for decades to come, Dowd said.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think you can afford not to do this,” Dowd said.

It’s a compelling argument, but will it be enough to sway budget-conscious members of Congress on both sides of the aisle? Right now, that’s still in doubt, although the good news is that at least the issue is getting enough attention to be seriously considered.

Hopefully, this increased awareness and the fact that the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is less than eight months away will help public safety make its case and provide a sense of urgency for lawmakers to act.

What do you think? Tell us in the comment box below.

Tags: Commentary Newsletters Networks & Systems Commentary Policy & Law Commentary

Most Recent


  • Updated: How 'sidelink' peer-to-peer communications can enhance public-safety operations
    Editor’s note: A previous version of this column was posted that included only the first portion of the article—a mistake by the editor. IWCE’s Urgent Communications regrets the error and apologizes for any inconvenience. When first responders are called to action, they need reliable communications to coordinate an effective public-safety response. Public-safety personnel understand this […]
  • NG911 needed to secure our communities and nation
    As the new Congress begins its work in earnest, we look forward to continued progress in funding the transition to IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) technology. Our nation’s 911 systems are critical to ensuring the safety and security of our communities, and nationwide implementation of NG911 will ensure these systems can leverage the most advanced communications […]
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    It’s a scenario we’ve all experienced: an ambulance with a blaring siren racing against time to get a person in medical distress to a hospital through traffic. What we don’t see is 5G connectivity enabling paramedics to communicate with hospital staff via video conference and coordinate care in real-time before arriving at the emergency room. […]
  • 3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024
    The latest set of 3GPP Plenary electronic meetings (e-meetings) concluded on Dec. 19, 2022. The meetings focused on the Release 18 (R18) feature progress and schedule. It was decided to extend the R18 freeze date (specifications complete for all R18 features) by three months to March 2024 to ensure the quality of the R18 3GPP […]

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