Congress, Capitol Building


In the 10 years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there have been countless advances in technology, but the one thing we haven't yet mastered is a standardized, interoperable public safety network that would let our first responders communicate with one another.

The inability of first responders to communicate that fateful day—the fire department not having contact with police, who couldn't talk to Port Authority officers and vice versa—was a "critical failure," according to a recent 10-year report card put together by members of the 9/11 Commission. "Incompatible and inadequate communications led to needless loss of life," they said.

It was no surprise, then, that one of the 9/11 Commission's 41 recommendations called on Congress to provide for the "expedited and increased assignment of radio spectrum for public safety purposes." One of the first stories I wrote as a reporter for The National Journal's Technology Daily back in 2003 concerned the need for first responder national standards, but here we are in 2011 with lots of proposals but little action. What happened?

At the most basic level, political squabbles and disagreements over how best to fund and organize such an undertaking, as well as technical issues surrounding spectrum allocation, have delayed any serious action for a decade. No one would accuse stakeholders involved in the process of deliberately trying to delay a system that would assist our nation's first responders, but at this point, Congress has yet to agree on a plan of action.

Show Me the Money (and Spectrum)
Besides agreeable legislators, the construction of a public safety network needs two key components: spectrum and money. Seems easy enough, right? Lives are on the line—just allocate some money and free up some spectrum and we're good to go. If only.

If you follow the wireless industry at all, you've probably heard carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint calling for more spectrum so their networks can handle data-intensive devices like tablets and smartphones. But a public safety network—which would connect police, fire, and rescue workers in much the same way that AT&T and Verizon connect you to your friends and family—also needs a piece of that spectrum pie.

But with private companies and public safety officials both clamoring for access to highly valuable spectrum, which group gets it? Should they share spectrum or allocate a whole block just for public safety? Should it be auctioned off or just handed over to first responders? And when that's settled, how do you pay to construct the actual network?

In 2008, lawmakers and the Federal Communications Commission opted for the auction route with the 700-MHz band, a swath of spectrum that became available after television broadcasters shifted from analog to digital signals in 2009. During that auction, one section known as the d-block was set aside for public safety use—that is, anyone who purchased it would have to share it with public safety officials. But the d-block included a reserve price of $1.3 billion, as well as several conditions that some bidders considered onerous and risky, so no one anted up the necessary funds. After receiving $19.6 billion in bids over eight weeks, the FCC sold every block but the ill-fated d-block.

After that, it was back to the drawing board and ever since, first responder groups, members of Congress, the FCC, and the White House have been releasing proposals, holding hearings, and crafting bills, but movement is slow-going.

In its national broadband plan, the FCC estimated that the interoperable network would require as much as $6.5 billion over 10 years, with most of that money needed between the second and fifth year. The FCC's plan calls on the government to use the power of broadband to improve public safety and create an interoperable public safety wireless broadband communication network by 2020.

Earlier this year, President Obama also unveiled a plan that calls for a $3 billion Wireless Innovation (WIN) Fund, which will support basic research, experimentation and testbeds, and applied development in areas like public safety, education, energy, health, transportation, and economic development. About $500 million of the WIN Fund's $3 billion would be used for R&D related to the deployment of an interoperable public safety network. Overall, Obama called for a $10.7 billion investment in such a network, including $3.2 billion to re-allocate d-block spectrum to public safety and $7 billion for the deployment of the network.

Continue Reading: A Deal in Congress?