APTS Pledges Spectrum to FirstNet

America's Public Television Stations (APTS) have committed "in principle" to allocate 1 Mbps of their spectrum to the FirstNet public safety network (HDTV, for example, takes about 13 Mbps of the 19 Mbps available per station in the ATSC 1 standard). APTS changed its name from "The Association of Public Television Stations" Feb 22 as part of a rebranding to focus on the local mission, including public safety, of its TV station members. The commitment was approved by its members at a public TV summit in Washington.

"We look forward to working with those who will help the government build out and operate the FirstNet system, and the commitment our stations have made today can help FirstNet reach its public safety objectives more quickly and efficiently than it can do without our help," said APTS president Patrick Butler. FirstNet is looking for partners to create its nationwide network. One of those could be using broadcasters to downlink public safety video, voice and data to first responders in their broadcast footprints.