First responders want public safety agency control of spectrum block

Firefighting and law enforcement officials have urged Congress to allocate an available block of federal radio spectrum to the direct control of the public safety community rather than auctioning the spectrum with the idea that public safety would maintain access in emergencies.

“Local control of the network by public safety agencies is critical,” Chief Jack Parow, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, told the House Homeland Security Committee March 30. “We cannot have commercial providers deciding what is or is not an emergency or what is the priority.… The lives of our firefighters and medics depend on this necessity.”

“The time to act is now,” said Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, first vice president of the National Sheriffs’ Association.

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Forget the money: Congress should allocate radio frequency band for public safety

Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) introduced a bill in February that would reallocate the D block directly to public safety agencies. President Barack Obama has also endorsed the reallocation approach.

However, radio spectrum policy is under the jurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Several members of that committee support the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to auction the spectrum to commercial carriers, which would be required to prioritize public safety during emergencies.

The D block consists of 10 MHz of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band. It is adjacent to another band controlled by public safety.

The public safety community has been requesting additional spectrum for more than a decade, but the issue gained momentum after the 2001 terrorist attacks, when the lack of interoperable communications systems among first responders at the World Trade Center was believed to be a contributing factor in firefighter deaths.

The FCC attempted to auction off the D block in 2008 with the stipulation that the buyer give priority to public safety, but the minimum bid was not met.

In related news, the two chairmen of the 9-11 Commission today endorsed direct allocation of the airwaves to public safety agencies, according to an article in The Hill newspaper.

Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean and former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) had previously been invoked as presumed supporters of a D block auction, the newspaper said.