Improving Public Safety Communications

The move to digital technology, which has prompted the federal government to make plans to transfer premium spectrum – 24 megahertz (MHz) – from analog TV to public safety use in 2009, is an enormous opportunity to obtain the resources that will be needed to build a national broadband network.

Policymakers will have to make a concerted effort to achieve some progress on communication systems for public safety, considering the ineffectiveness of past policy that has led to a system that has failure, cost, spectrum and capability issues.

First responders should have access to multiple systems, as well as a primary system that at the very least supports mission-critical voice communications. Secondary systems to support first responders could involve cellular carriers, a nationwide commercial carrier, municipal infrastructure, ad hoc networks and satellite networks.