TMCnet Feature

On Wednesday, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and National League of Cities (NLC) renewed their call to Congress to reallocate 700 MHz D-Block spectrum for a national interoperable broadband network for public safety.

As the events of the August 23 earthquake unfolded, it was clear that the commercial wireless networks were unable to handle the sudden surge of calls being made to loved ones and friends. This needlessly put the public at risk because first responders and other public safety officials were unable to rely on these communications networks in the critical moments after the earthquake.

According to NACo and NLC officials, most networks simply ceased to accept calls at all. Thus, because of the huge demand for spectrum, residents were urged to text rather than make voice calls. While it is unreasonable to expect commercial networks to engineer their systems for this surge capacity, it is also unreasonable to suggest public safety can rely on such networks in an emergency, the national organization officials stated.

Hence, citing the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in Virginia and rolled its way across the Northeast, the NACo, NLC representatives are asking the Congress to immediately pass legislation to reallocate 700 MHz D-block spectrum for a national interoperable broadband network for public safety.

Under existing law, failure to act will lead to the D-Block being allocated for auction to the highest bidder and would thereby continue to leave public safety workers in harm’s way 10 years after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, according to NACo, NLC officials.

While NACo is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States, NLC is the nation’s oldest and largest organization devoted to strengthening and promoting cities as centers of opportunity, leadership and governance. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.

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