FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the commission’s national broadband plan will call on Congress to allocate $16 billion to $18 billion over 10 years to help build an interoperable, pubic-safety broadband network–a bold effort to move forward on an issue that has stymied the FCC for years. He also said the plan would call for a re-auction of the D Block of the 700 MHz spectrum band, and said public-safety agencies should have access to all of the 700 MHz band, not just the D Block.

A day after he outlined the commission’s proposals for mobile broadband, Genachowski turned his attention to public safety–an issue that has long bedeviled policy makers working to smooth communications among the nation’s police, fire fighters and associated emergency workers. 

“The private sector simply is not going to build a nationwide, state-of-the-art, interoperable broadband network for public safety on its own dime,” he said in a speech at the FCC. “Local municipalities and states can certainly contribute some amount to sustaining any network that is built. But the bottom line is that if we want to deliver on what our first responders need to protect our communities and loved ones, public money will need to be put toward tackling this national priority.”

Genachowski said the plan envisions public safety having access to the entire 700 MHz band through roaming and priority access arrangements. He said public-safety agencies could have access to as much as 80 MHz of spectrum under those kinds of deals.

He said the FCC does not want to limit the public-safety community’s options, noting public safety would be able to work with any commercial operator or systems integrator under the plan.
Read more:  http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/fcc-pushing-d-block-re-auction/2010-02-25?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz0ga41xad7