National Public Safety Network Begins to Take Shape

Last week Harris County, Texas, stood up the first 14 sites of what could one day become a nationwide broadband wireless network for public safety. The launch was a major milestone in an effort stretching back to the late 1990s, when Congress ordered the Federal Communications Commission to set aside 700 MHz spectrum for public safety. For many years the dream of an interoperable radio for the nation’s first responders had stalled at the federal level. Twenty-one cities, counties and states got tired of waiting, said former Seattle CTO Bill Schrier. In 2010, those jurisdictions formed the Operator Advisory Committee (OAC) and formally applied to the FCC to use the bandwidth, which was granted in May 2010. According to Schrier — who led Seattle’s effort and became chairman of the OAC — members began building their networks. Last week the FCC gave permission for Harris County and Charlotte (NC) to go live — with Harris County first out of the gate. That permission came in the form of a provisional waiver, which allowed those two jurisdictions to move ahead since both projects met interoperability requirements needed for the planned national network.