Public Safety Officials See New York D-Block Disinterest as Unique
The 700 MHz public safety D-block’s future remains in question entering what are likely the last five months of Kevin Martin’s chairmanship. Among the main problems facing advocates of a public-private partnership is seeming reluctance by some of the nation’s largest systems to take part, as seen at an FCC en banc hearing on the D-block (CD July 31 p1). Public safety sources say many first responders still don’t understand the benefits offered by a broadband wireless network, and may not until the network is built.
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The discussion is timely in that Martin was expected to circulate late Thursday revised rules for the D-block, in time for a Sept. 25 agenda meeting vote. But FCC sources said at our deadline that it’s unclear whether that will happen.
Many public safety officials will embrace a national wireless broadband network when they see how it will improve their effectiveness, APCO president-elect Richard Mirgon said in an interview. Most questions have centered on whether the network should be national or regional, he said.
“There’s a lot of debate about how you get from point A to point Z, but there hasn’t been a lot of debate about the fact that we need this,” Mirgon said. “The hesitation people have has a lot to do with the fact that there are just too many unknowns right now. I believe that once we get this moving and get a lot of these unanswered questions answered a lot of these players will come to the table. I believe they will see it as not only best for America, but best for their agency.”
Availability of a wireless broadband network will change how first responders do their jobs, Mirgon said. “Not ‘could’ -- it will change the face of the way things are done,” he said. “This network will initially be deployed as a data network, but I think 20 years from now we will look back and say, ‘Wow, look at all the great things we've done with it.'”
Most first responders want access to a wireless broadband network, Harlin McEwen, chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust, said. “I'm at a meeting now in Boulder, Colo., of the SAFECOM Executive Committee… and there’s people here representing all levels of government. They all are very supportive because the biggest issue is they can’t continue to fund systems like they have in the past,” he said. “There are lots of reasons this is popular… I'm not saying that I don’t occasionally hear from someone with questions about whether it will really work, but the majority of people for a lot of reasons see the value of this and why it’s important.”
At the July en banc hearing, NYC Deputy Police Chief Charles Dowd questioned whether his city’s needs would be best served by a national public safety network. “I just don’t see utilizing it,” he said. Other local governments have also expressed concerns.
McEwen recently met with New York City officials to discuss their concerns, he said, calling that city unique. “It’s not good to take the New York City situation and use that as an example,” he said. “They have a very parochial interest for their own reasons and I understand and it’s perfectly all right for them to do that. But at the end of the day it ignores the rest of the country and their needs.”
Charlottesville, Va., fire chief Charles Werner believes that “if you build it, they will come,” he said, noting that he already uses wireless broadband to track emergency calls and response vehicle locations. He can also call up views from 17 traffic cameras, he said. The next generation of E- 911 instantly will provide more information to first responders, he said.
“Once a system is in place, the applications that are available to almost every fire department that are affordable are amazing,” Werner said. “It makes me better in the way of public safety efficiency and effectiveness. I can sit in my vehicle and see all of my assets and resources, where they're located, where they're coming from. I can see the call activity and volume so I can make decisions… I can see the big picture.” For example, fire officials will be able to access satellite images of wild fires in distant locales, he said. “When you talk about the more rural areas, they may be able to benefit significantly during wild land fires,” he said. “It’s not so simple to say it’s not needed out there because we're having one of the worst wild fire seasons we've ever had.”
“Many folks think this is a voice dominated service that will be offered, but in reality public safety will follow the commercial world and they'll be looking at a data-rich service,” said one public safety official. “Once folks have an opportunity to see it… a lot of them are saying we're not particularly spectrum starved but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s just spectrum. It’s how that spectrum is used.”