Public Safety

PUBLIC INTEREST SPECTRUM COALITION

The Media Access Project, on behalf of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC), hereby submits these comments with regard to the above captioned proceeding. The failure of the D Block license to attract a bidder presents the Commission with a unique opportunity to restructure this band of spectrum in a way that will both serve the needs of public safety and the broader goals of the Communications Act. To that end,

Chairman Kevin Martin Federal Communications Commission 445 Twelfth Street, SW Washington, DC 20554

Re: Service Rules for the 698-746, 747-762, and 777-792 MHz Bands WT Docket No. 06-150 Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband, Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band PD Docket No. 06-229

Dear Chairman Martin:

Sacramento lawmakers are in a trap. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton will decide in little more than three months whether to set a population cap on the state’s vastly overcrowded prison system, potentially forcing the early release of thousands of convicted criminals. To keep the court at bay, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the Legislature to approve billions in new prison construction money, and to consider revising sentencing and parole laws to put fewer criminals behind bars.

The trap is this:… more

Abstract

The events surrounding Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks demonstrated that the communications systems used by first responders in the United States are not adequate to meet the challenges of a post-9/11 world. The U.S. system is based on assumptions that local agencies should have maximal flexibility at the expense of standardization and regional coordination, that commercial carriers and municipal systems have little role to play, that public safety should not share spectrum or network infrastructure, and that narrowband… more

From the fire fighters who died on 9/11 to the rescue workers struggling to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, recent crises have demonstrated that the absence of reliable and interoperable voice and data communications among public safety agencies is an urgent national dilemma. While the need for voice interoperability among first responders is a fundamental and longstanding public safety issue that must be resolved, many communities across the nation have already begun to supplement their voice communication networks with wireless… more