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?
A Deal in Congress?
The auction vs. allocation debate has held things up in Congress lately. In June, the Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill that, among other things, would allocate the spectrum for public safety. It would also put some government funds toward the creation of an interoperable network and allow TV stations to auction off unused spectrum, the proceeds of which would also go towards the construction of a network.
Though bill sponsor John Rockefeller expressed a desire to get the measure passed before the tenth anniversary of 9/11, it has seen no further action. Democrats and Republicans in the House, meanwhile, are still trying to hammer out an agreement on a similar bill. Essentially, the GOP backs an auction process while Democrats want to allocate it.
There are differing opinions on allocation vs. auction outside Capitol Hill, too. The 9/11 Commission suggested auctioning the d-block, and Democrats like Henry Waxman were in favor of it until recently. A May report from the Phoenix Center, however, concluded that it would be more cost effective to just hand over the spectrum instead of holding auctions. Requirements for operating devices in the d-block, like roaming access and a standardized air interface, would drive the price down, and auctioneers would be lucky to fetch $2 billion, the report said, which is not nearly enough to pay for a network that could cost many times that to build.
The FCC's Office of Inspector General (OIG) reached similar conclusions back in 2008.
Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of a House technology subcommittee, however, said in July that Obama's call to allocate the spectrum slowed down the process. "Let's be honest, but for the president's call in February to allocate the d-block, we'd be much further along today," Walden said during a hearing on public safety.
Walden said at the time that he and his Democratic counterparts could not come to an agreement before the hearing, so both sides released their own draft versions of a bill that would solve the public safety issue. They are not the only ones floating such bills, though, and it's now up to everyone involved to come to an agreement.
"Implementing a national, interoperable radio system for our first responders is within our grasp," Sen. Rockefeller said in an Aug. 31 statement. "It will save lives all across the country, and we owe it to first responders to get it done."
He is still pushing his bill, S.911, as is the Public Safety Alliance (PSA), which held a press event on Friday in support of the legislation.
Those 9/11 Commission members, meanwhile, who are now part of a follow-on organization known as the National Security Preparedness Group (NSPG), said in their report that efforts have stalled "because of a political fight."
"We support the immediate allocation of the d-block spectrum to public safety and the construction of a nationwide, interoperable broadband network," the NSPG said. "Because we don't know when the next attack or disaster will strike, we urge the Congress to act swiftly."
Miles to Go
Even after Congress resolves the spectrum/d-block issue, though, construction of the network and the selection of appropriate technology is a whole other issue.
"Heavy lifting is needed to deploy an operational nationwide interoperable network," the NSPG said. "Standards must be established for the public safety broadband network to ensure nationwide interoperability of wireless devices on the network."
Those devices also need to be interoperable with devices on other portions of spectrum, given that first responders might be sent to where the network is not yet deployed.
Clearly, officials have their work cut out for them in the years ahead. Let's hope that by 2020, we're discussing the network's roll-out rather than continued political battles.