White House seeks spectrium for public safety

(AP) -- The Obama administration is throwing its support behind a plan to give a valuable chunk of radio waves to police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers to build nationwide wireless broadband network for public safety.

The announcement by the White House is a big victory for public safety officials, who have been lobbying aggressively for the wireless spectrum. They want to use it as the foundation for an "interoperable" broadband network that would let first responders across different agencies and different jurisdictions communicate with each other - a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission .

And it is a setback for several big , including T-Mobile USA and , which are eager to expand their spectrum holdings and want to see the airwaves auctioned off to the wireless industry.

©2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Citation: White House seeks spectrium for public safety (2011, January 27) retrieved 28 June 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2011-01-white-house-spectrium-safety.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

FCC, public safety at odds over broadband plan

0 shares

Feedback to editors