Congress, DHS and the FCC must ensure that first responders get the equipment, money and administrative support they need to build a strong interoperable emergency communications system, 2 former govt. officials said Wed. The Deficit Reduction Act, which spelled out rules for the DTV transition, ordered 24 MHz of spectrum auctioned for public safety -- “prime” frequency that will meet 21st Century communications needs, said a white paper by Larry Irving and Michael Gallagher, former Commerce Dept. communications officials under President Clinton and the current President Bush, respectively.

“Broadband should be like water in a restaurant, something that comes with your meal,” said Kathleen Wallman, consultant with M2Z Wireless Networks and a former FCC bureau chief. She said modest-speed (300K), ad-supported Internet access should be included with basic telephone service: “Basic broadband connectivity should be free. If you want more than that, it would be available to purchase.” Wallman, a panel speaker at the NARUC annual meeting, said the U.S. lags far behind other nations in broadband penetration and service speed. “We need a different strategy for broadband deployment” for both wireline and wireless service. With wireless, she proposed the FCC grant exclusive 15-year leases of broadband spectrum and get a percentage of the annual revenue. E Copernicus consultant Chris McLean said ubiquitous broadband is “a national security imperative.” He said security demands multiple redundant broadband networks using both landline and wireless technologies. He said achieving universal broadband means policymakers and industry must take some risks: “There’s no single ’silver bullet’ solution for broadband development. It’s a layer cake of policy.” He said successful broadband policy should rely on market forces as much as possible, consider innovative approaches like spectrum leasing, support broadband with subsidies where necessary, create demand, and be flexible. He said that when govt. decides something is a genuine national priority, it generally gets done. He cited rural electrification and the national schools & libraries telecom program as examples. “We should be moving the broadband ball forward, getting it done, because broadband is important.” Consultant Bob Rowe, a former Mont. regulator, said broadband is changing the cost and revenue picture for providers. “Networks and costs don’t go away -- they change,” he said. For instance, he said, the rise of broadband is shifting costs from switching and general network operations to construction of new outside plant and to acquisition of content. He said that as broadband grows, providers will see less revenue from traditional narrowband phone services and more from selling new services made possible by broadband. But that demand for new services will stress the infrastructure and demand further investment. He said providers may need to consider new revenue models such as selling advertising.

The FCC Tues. opened its Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, with veteran FCC official Ken Moran as acting bureau chief. Ordered in March, the bureau has a staff of 90, most already reassigned from elsewhere at the FCC -- making it the agency’s smallest bureau, comparable in size to the FCC Office of Engineering & Technology.

Public safety officials welcomed the VoIP E-911 legislation (S-1063) that the Senate approved Thurs. (CD Sept 14 p1) as part of the port security bill. The Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International said it was pleased that the Senate struck out provisions which would have given companies waivers from complying with E-911 requirements and delayed enforcement. APCO said it plans to work to ensure the provisions aren’t added back in during conference on the bill, according to a statement by Pres. Wanda McCarley. NENA also welcomed the legislation: “Ensuring that 911 service is available and effective for all Americans today and in the future as technology advances is a top priority for NENA,” said Pres. Bill Munn.

AT&T accused CTIA of trying to gain special privileges for wireless carriers, in its comments on a rulemaking released with the final report of the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks. AT&T also took issue with NENA’s contention that all 911 system service providers should be required to analyze the redundancy of their 911 networks and tell the FCC about possible gaps.

NENA urged the FCC to seek comment on Cyren Call’s proposal to dedicate 30 MHz of contiguous 700 MHz spectrum to public safety for wireless broadband. NENA also asked Congress to study the proposal. The NENA resolution follows an Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials de facto endorsement of the Cyren Call plan (CD Aug 11 p7). Cyren Call founder Morgan O'Brien has made gaining these public safety groups’ support a priority. Carriers want the spectrum auctioned and have opposed the Cyren Call proposal. Quick action is critical, NENA said in a statement. “NENA appreciates the innovative approach and the significant potential benefits to the public safety community of this plan,” NENA said: “We also appreciate the timing of this proposal. Our nation has a one-time opportunity to take advantage of the clearance of a nationwide block of 30 MHz of frequencies in the 700 MHz spectrum band… We will lose a tremendous opportunity to improve public safety through improved interoperability if a debate is not initiated to license this spectrum to public safety for a nationwide broadband network before this spectrum is auctioned off and lost forever.”

Only about half of U.S. counties have E-911 Phase II capability, NENA said in documents filed this week at the FCC. Nationwide, 74.5% of counties have Phase I capability. NENA, which did a survey using a Dept. of Transportation grant, said it would cost $335 million to extend Phase II to all areas.

E-911 supporters urged Congress Wed. to approve funding for wireless E-911 technology that would make it possible for Americans to connect to safety services anywhere in the country. Only part of the wireless E-911 network is built, and many states need federal and state grants to upgrade equipment and technology to route calls from public safety access points (PSAPs) to the proper emergency personnel, said Greg Rohde, exec. dir.-E-911 Institute.

More than 75% of U.S. residents have “phase 2” wireless E-911 service, up 8% from Dec., the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said Tues. Phase 2 E-911 service sends caller telephone numbers and locations to appropriate Public Safety Answering Points. This is a “certainly welcome,” but many people, mostly in rural areas, still don’t get this critical service, said NENA Pres. David Jones. Funding is the problem, which is why a grant program legislated in the 2004 Enhance 911 Act should be implemented, NENA said.

Reductions and reallocation of Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) grant money have left some urban areas unhappy. But a Dept. official said the amounts make sense -- and won’t be the only consideration in how much is spent on communications upgrades in those cities. Budget cuts and a new methodology produced a shift in grant awards to Chicago, L.A., small cities and rural areas, while N.Y.C., D.C., and several previously well-funded border states had significant reductions from previous years. While public safety groups push for better first-response technology and increased interoperability spending - and congressional consensus is forming around the need for those improvements -- high-risk urban areas will be forced to do more with less this year.