Equipment makers could seek grants to develop public-safety devices that support voice, data and video communications in the 700 MHz spectrum, under a bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. HR-5907 would set up a $70 million competition, run by NTIA, for research and development grants. “This process will produce devices ready for first responders’ use within five years -- hopefully sooner,” Harman said Wednesday on the House floor.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is expected to circulate within the next few weeks a long-awaited order on location accuracy rules for wireless, based on proposals by AT&T and Verizon Wireless and incorporating changes sought in by T-Mobile, industry and FCC officials said. Last week, The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) filed a letter at the commission endorsing the tweaks sought in a June 16 letter by T-Mobile to AT&T’s proposal for GSM-based carriers. The Public Safety Bureau has started to brief eighth-floor officials on the order.

Public safety resistance to a D-block auction only seemed to intensify after Democrats and Republicans endorsed the approach at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Thursday. It’s unclear how a nationwide, interoperable public safety network would otherwise be funded, subcommittee members said. Legislators also backed bipartisan 911 legislation that includes language to stop states from misusing 911 funds.

APCO and National Emergency Number Association officials said at a meeting at the FCC that they continue to support a countywide measurement area for E-911 wireless location accuracy and “rules that reflect the prior agreements with Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T, with a progression towards improved accuracy within specified time periods,” said an ex parte filing at the FCC. APCO and NENA worked out agreements in 2008 with AT&T and Verizon Wireless about E-911 location-accuracy rules. AT&T’s proposal was for GSM carriers, which use a network-based E-911 solution. Verizon Wireless’ is a plan for carriers using CDMA technology and a handset-based solution.

The four co-chairs of the Congressional E-911 Caucus are introducing bipartisan legislation to upgrade 911 call centers nationwide and toughen penalties for states that divert 911 funds for other purposes. The bill also would move the national E-911 Implementation Coordination Office to the NTIA. Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and John Shimkus, R-Ill., introduced the 2010 Next-Generation 9-1-1 Preservation Act (HR-4829) in the House on Friday. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., plan to introduce a Senate version on Monday, said an Eshoo spokesman.

A proposed Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC) would be housed at the FCC in the Public Safety Bureau and would come under a Public Safety Advisory Board, according to a concept paper posted on the FCC website. Meanwhile, public safety groups and companies that serve them said they liked what they heard at Thursday’s FCC meeting about public safety recommendations coming in the National Broadband Plan -- especially a recommendation on the need for a next-generation 911 network.

APCO is in discussions with U.S. officials over how to restore emergency communications in Haiti after the earthquake last month. Haiti’s two public safety answering points that answer emergency 114 and 118 calls were “reportedly destroyed,” and so was Haitian Police’s land mobile radio system, the group said. APCO President Richard Mirgon said “the restoration of essential emergency communications systems is critical to saving lives and maintaining the health of the population, including those individuals from other countries who are providing aid. Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina demonstrate the need and method for interim and long term emergency communications restoration.” NENA has also been in discussions aimed at restoring emergency communications systems in Haiti, said NENA CEO Brian Fontes: “We are standing ready to help out in anyway that would be appropriate.”

The FCC was flooded with more than 100,000 comments and other filings on its October rulemaking notice that would deepen the FCC’s oversight of net neutrality as well as expand the rules to cover wireless. There were few surprises, with lines long drawn in the battle. Some major industry players including AT&T and Verizon are hinting at a legal challenge if the rules are adopted as proposed. A few traditional opponents found room for compromise.

Major public safety groups discussed the future of the 700 MHz D-block and a proposal to reallocate the spectrum for public safety use, at a meeting last week with Chairman Julius Genachowski, Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett and other commission officials. “The public safety representatives discussed the importance of obtaining additional broadband spectrum adjacent to the current 700 MHz public safety allocation and to identify sources of sustained funding,” said an ex parte filing by APCO, NENA, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Major County Sheriffs’ Association, the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, the National Emergency Management Association and the National Sheriffs’ Association. “The D block allocation, which the representatives acknowledged is a matter for Congress to address, is necessary to meet public safety capacity requirements, promote interoperability, reduce overall network and equipment costs, and facilitate public-private partnerships.”

Public safety leaders seeking a national public safety wireless network flew into Washington, urging Congress to immediately reallocate 700 MHz D-block spectrum. Police, fire and other representatives held meetings Tuesday with Congressional leaders and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, they said at a press conference that evening. More than eight years after communications between public safety agencies broke down during 9/11, “we still do not have the ability to communicate with each other,” said Chief Robert Davis, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. “We are profoundly disappointed that Congress and the administration have not acted to secure this critically needed spectrum for the protection of the public.”