FCC to host broadband interoperability forum
Representatives of public safety, manufacturers and other interested parties are expected to participate in a broadband interoperability forum being conducted March 4 by the FCC’s public safety and homeland security bureau.
“Certainly we’ll focus on what the goals are, how we can reach those goals and hear input from others about their impressions, ideas and recommendations,” FCC spokesman Rob Kenny said.
Agenda items and panelists will be released during the weeks before the event, Kenny said. Those interested in attending the forum in the FCC’s commission meeting room can pre-register at www.fcc.gov/pshs/event-registration.html.
Ensuring that proposed deployments of 700 MHz broadband networks for public safety are interoperable has been a priority of the FCC, which has mandated that such networks use LTE as a common air interface. In addition, FCC commissioners recently adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking to initiate a proceeding to establish a technical framework for broadband interoperability.
These guidelines will be implemented through the FCC’s Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC), which will receive first-responder input from the newly established public- safety advisory committee. At the FCC’s commission meeting last month, Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that Jeff Johnson, former president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) will chair the public safety advisory committee and Eddie Reyes, deputy chief of the Alexandria (Va.) Police Department will be the vice chairman.
For more information on broadband, including a discussion of the National Broadband Plan, attend these sessions at IWCE in Las Vegas, March 7-11, 2011.