Guest post by Richard Mirgon

The Right Side of History: D Block Spectrum Reallocation to Public Safety

When Americans think of Osama Bin Laden and the events of this past week, perhaps the first word that will come to mind is justice.

Nearly ten years after the worst terrorist attacks on U.S. soil resulting in the deaths of approximately 3,000 civilians and 400 first responders, Navy SEALs executed Osama bin Laden, the architect behind the horrific events of 9/11.

When the news broke, like all Americans, hundreds of thousands of men and women in public safety nationwide celebrated--for their fallen colleagues, the families of victims and the nation they work so hard to protect every day. They applauded the bi-partisan, long-term effort of the Obama and Bush Administrations for their tenacity and support of our public servants in their decade-long pursuit of Bin Laden.

Bin Laden's death and President Obama's visit to Ground Zero three days later to honor victims are stark reminders of the need for a nationwide public safety broadband network. Effective and seamless responses during disasters and large-scale incidents, as well as everyday emergencies, are critical to the safety of everyone involved.

As we approach the 10^th Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we need to reaffirm our commitment to "never forget" how much our first responders sacrificed that day, and we need to address this glaring public safety crisis in America--the need for improved communications among our first responders, which can only happen with the allocation of the D-Block spectrum to public safety.

The Obama Administration and dozens of lawmakers led by Senator John D. "Jay" Rockefeller, Senator John McCain, Senator Joseph Lieberman, Congressman Peter King and Congressman Bennie Thompson have shown tremendous support for a plan that will help fund and create a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network, in part by making the first priority of funds derived from any spectrum auctions dedicated to financing the network. 

In making this issue his committee's top priority for this year, Chairman Rockefeller has introduced a bill, S. 28--The Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act of 2011--to ensure that first responders have the essential spectrum necessary for reliable communications every day and especially in times of crisis. 

Likewise, Chairman King has introduced similar legislation in the House, H.R. 607--The First Responders Protection Act of 2011--which awaits further action by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. A nationwide, interoperable broadband wireless communications system will allow first responders to stream real-time video of an emergency scene in order to locate injured victims. It means speeding medical care to the injured and coordinating a more effective response by other first responders. It means, as our nation lays off thousands of police officers, firefighters and other public servants, new technology will allow them to do more with less and be more efficient with what resources they have.  

In March, the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, spoke candidly on the cost of not having this network in place. Their testimony is important:

"The inability of first responders to communicate with each other was a critical failure on 9/11. 

Incompatible and inadequate communications led to needless loss of life. To remedy this failure, the Commission recommended legislation to provide for the expedited and increased assignment of radio spectrum for public safety purposes. 

To date, this recommendation languishes. We find this unacceptable, because quite literally lives are at stake. 

...We support the immediate allocation of the D-block spectrum to public safety. We must not approach these urgent matters at a leisurely pace. We don't know when the next attack or disaster will strike. Further delay is intolerable. We urge the Congress to act." 

One day in the future, our nation may face another catastrophic event and our first responders will, again, put their lives on the line. If we do not have a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network that is as great as our first responders, then we will have failed in our duty to them. History will not look kindly upon a Congress responsible for that failure.

In barely four months, we will commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and remember the victims of that tragedy. On that day, I hope all lawmakers will have already gone on record in support of legislation such as S. 28 and H.R.607 to allocate D block to public safety and provide the funding necessary to help build out the nationwide mission-critical broadband network. Thereby, those Members will be on the right side of history.

Richard Mirgon has over 30 years of public safety experience with the last 20 years in the public safety technology field. He is the Immediate Past President for the Association of Public Safety Officials International (APCO) and APCO's lead for the reallocation of the D Block spectrum to public safety.