By Keri Losavio & Courtney McCarron Hastings
A 700 MHz public safety nationwide broadband wireless network supporting both broadband voice and data will enhance interoperability in public safety emergencies requiring a multi-jurisdictional response. The September 2009 Draft of the National Broadband Plan calls for an eventual converged broadband voice and data network for public safety as a strategic goal. This vision will never be realized without a commitment by the federal government to allocate the 700 MHz D Block to public safety now. Public safety leaders representing police, fire, EMS and public safety communications believe that auctioning the D block is shortsighted because it precludes this possibility.

At a televised press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 12, our nation’s top police chiefs, sheriffs and fire chiefs described the urgent need for an interoperable public safety wireless broadband network. In an unparalleled event, the leaders of America’s emergency first responders joined together to call on Congress to immediately reallocate the 700 MHz D Block spectrum to public safety.

San Jose, Calif., Police Chief and Major City Chiefs Association President Robert Davis, said, “One of the biggest lessons we learned [on 9/11] was that we in public safety, first responders, did not have the ability to communicate with each other. It’s been eight years, [and] we still do not have the ability to communicate with each other. That is not acceptable.”

Police, fire, medical and other emergency public safety professionals must have access to modern and reliable communications capabilities, including high-speed data and video, to have interoperable communications with each other and with federal officials across agencies and jurisdictions during emergencies. State-of-the-art public safety communications are essential to provide the public with the protection and security it deserves. Public safety touches every facet of our lives, including the safety of our families and economic growth, and the leaders gathered at the press conference urged Congress and the administration to work with them so the nation’s citizens will be able to receive the best possible public safety services.

“Public safety needs additional broadband spectrum to protect our communities effectively,” said Davis, “and to meet this need we are asking Congress to act quickly to remove the 700 MHz D Block broadband spectrum from auction and to reallocate it directly to public safety. … We are profoundly disappointed that Congress and the administration have not acted to secure this critically needed spectrum for the protection of the public. This can and must change.”

In the absence of swift Congressional action to remove the D Block from auction, the FCC must, under current law, “expeditiously” re-auction this critical spectrum. This would effectively forever preclude public safety’s ability to obtain 20 MHz of contiguous spectrum in the 700 MHz band.

Chief Jeff Johnson, president of the IAFC, joined Davis in calling for a reliable, public safety grade broadband system. “The International Association of Fire Chiefs is committed to removal of the D block from the auction and the development of a single, nationwide data system for public safety responders,” he said.

Chief Russell Laine, immediate past president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said, “IACP supports wholly the efforts to remove the D Block from the auction and to provide that for public safety.”

Metropolitan Fire Chiefs President Robert Hendricks, who represents 120 chiefs around the U.S., said that this is about all of our communities, not just big cities. “Metro Chiefs are in full support of this as well.”

Paul Fitzgerald, Story County, Iowa, second vice president of the National Sheriffs Association, was representing 3,084 sheriffs at the press conference. “Communication and sharing of information must be truly interoperable, border to border and coast to coast,” he said. … “The National Sheriffs Association fully endorses and supports Congress to allocate the D Block to the public safety portion of our spectrum to give us a full 20 MHz of spectrum.”

Joe Wolfinger, executive director of the Major County Sheriffs Association, said, “It’s time that Congress acted.”

NENA CEO Brian Fontes said, “NENA stands fully behind the need for broadband and the need to have funding for that network.”

Finally, APCO President Dick Mirgon, representing the 15,000 APCO members who build, design and operate public safety networks said, “If we’re going to save lives and do what we’re charged to do, we need this spectrum. … We need this additional block to build a nationwide ubiquitous network that will have the ability to not only move the data for identifying suspects, sending medical data to hospitals, but will also be cost effective enough because we’re all using the same spectrum. To lose this spectrum, to lose this D Block, would actually be a tragedy for America and public safety. APCO stands with our fellow public safety people to try to reallocate this D Block back to public safety and to let us do what we’re paid to do: to save lives and protect Americans.”

The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs and National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) also called on Congress to remove the D Block from the auction. Senior executives from ATT Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Motorola, Harris, Alcatel Lucent and other major corporations also support this reallocation of spectrum.

Public safety needs additional broadband spectrum for both current and future technologies, such as streaming video, automated license plate recognition, biometric technologies, including mobile fingerprint and iris identification. The 700 MHz band is ideal for public safety because it provides superior coverage and “in building” performance compared to higher frequency bands. Public safety needs to control this spectrum because it is the only way to guarantee that it will be available in an emergency.

Specifically, these leaders asked that Congress pass legislation directing the FCC to remove any auction requirements for the D Block and to allocate it directly to public safety as part of the nationwide Public Safety Broadband License (PSBL). This would result in public safety having access to 20 MHz of broadband spectrum that is essential to meet public safety’s expanding requirements and to maximize efficient use of broadband technologies. They also asked that Congress and the FCC work with public safety to identify dedicated funding sources to build and maintain the nationwide public safety wireless broadband network.

At the end of the press conference, Davis put the subject into context: “It’s about providing protection for our communities. … Of course it’s a difficult project. … But it’s also a project that we absolutely must do.”

About the Authors
Keri Losavio is the editor of Public Safety Communications. Contact her via e-mail at [email protected]

Courtney McCarron Hastings is the APCO director of communications. Contact her via e-mail at [email protected].

Note: Portions of this article were drawn from a statement released by the Major City Chiefs Association.