Former FEMA director discusses ways to improve first responder communication
WASHINGTON—The necessity of communicating during an emergency was never more evident than during the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. However, the ability of first responders to communicate during an emergency continues to be a problem nationwide. Various government and private sector officials gathered on Dec. 13 to discuss constructing a nationwide interoperable broadband network for public safety.
James Lee Witt, the former FEMA Director and current CEO of Witt Associates, a public safety and crisis management firm gave a keynote address discussing the auction of the D Block to create such a network. “Over the past few months, public safety organizations, carriers, policymakers and public interest groups have debated the fate of the 10 megahertz piece of the broadband wireless spectrum, known as the D Block,” he said. The D Block is a swath of spectrum located in the upper 700 MHz band that was formerly used by television broadcasters. This spectrum has “excellent suitability for carrying signals over long distances and through building walls – a necessary capability, obviously, for first responders,” he said.
However, there has been debate about what to do with this spectrum. Some say that the government should just hand over the spectrum to public safety officials. While this sounds generous, Witt argued that public safety doesn’t have the funds or the expertise to build and operate the network. Instead, Witt advocated a free market auction of the D block spectrum, which would generate an estimated $3 billion that could be used to support the network. “Competition among the wireless carriers is tough, they are motivated by the market to build a best-in-class nationwide network that not only retains existing customers and attracts new ones, but will also allow first responders priority access during an emergency,” he said.
Because carriers have already invested billions of dollars in building such advanced wireless broadband networks, they already possess the necessary expertise and funding, said Witt. “By leveraging those investments, public safety will have a first class interoperable network up and running long before the government would be able to design and build a network,” he said.
