Dems pushing public-safety bills

WASHINGTON-The new Democratic-controlled Congress is already pushing a pair of bills intended to improve public-safety communications interoperability.
One initiative, included in a comprehensive bill to implement recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, would create a distinct grant program within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to improving first-responder communications.
It is unclear how the measure will impact existing DHS efforts to upgrade public-safety wireless interoperability, a weak link highlighted in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. While the DHS has awarded nearly $3 billion in public-safety interoperability grants to date, a new department report reveals most of the country still lacks the capability and overall infrastructure to enable police, firefighters, medics and others to communicate amongst themselves during emergencies.
Meantime, the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration is under orders from Congress to disperse by Sept. 30 all of the $1 billion earmarked for public-safety interoperability grants. NTIA has yet to award any grants.
House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) is championing a separate bill to improve communications interoperability for emergency response. Details of the bill were not immediately available.
More public-safety legislation could be on the way.
Cyren Call Communications Corp. and public-safety organizations are lobbying Congress to secure an additional 30 megahertz for public-safety communications in a 700 MHz band to supplant 24 MHz of spectrum already being used. Public-safety groups insist the 30 megahertz-one half of the highly-valuable 700 MHz block set for auction by January 2008-is needed to support video and other data-intensive broadband applications.