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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Vincent Stile, and I appear before you
today in my capacity as President of the Association of Public-Safety
Communications Officials-International, Inc. ("APCO"), the nation's
oldest and largest public safety communications organization. The International
Association of Chiefs of Police and Major Cities Chiefs Association have also
asked that I speak on their behalf today.
I am also the Police Radio Communications Systems Director for the Suffolk
County Police Department, Long Island, New York and serve as chair of the New
York Metropolitan Advisory Committee (NYMAC) dealing with the concerns of radio
spectrum as it affects first responders in New York City and its surrounding
areas. I also serve as APCO's local frequency advisor for southern New York
State.
I would like to discuss the spectrum needs of our nation's first responders and,
in particular, the need for Congress to adopt a firm date for the availability
of the 700 MHz spectrum that has already been allocated for public safety
communications.
APCO has over 16,000 members, most of whom are state or local government
officials who manage and operate police, fire, emergency medical, disaster
relief and other public safety communications systems. As an FCC-certified
frequency coordinator, APCO works closely with public safety agencies and the
Commission to identify the most effective and efficient use of the scarce radio
spectrum currently allocated and available for public safety use. APCO is also
an advocate for the public safety community on communications issues, involving
both spectrum and E9-1-1 issues. In that regard, APCO works closely with
organizations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police,
International Association of Fire Chiefs, National League of Cities, National
Association of Counties, and, on E9-1-1 matters, the National Emergency Number
Association.
Police, fire, EMS and other first responders face many challenges as they strive
daily to protect the safety of life, health, and property, especially in today's
uncertain world. They cannot begin to tackle those responsibilities without
effective radio communications capabilities. Public safety agencies must have
reliable communications among their own personnel in the field and,
increasingly, with personnel from other agencies and jurisdictions responding to
the same emergencies. To do so, they need the financial resources to build and
maintain state-of-the-art radio systems, and they need sufficient and
appropriate radio spectrum on which those systems can operate. This latter
problem, regarding radio spectrum, will be the focus of my testimony today.
Unfortunately, in much of the nation there is simply not enough radio spectrum
allocated to accommodate public safety requirements. For example, in the New
York City area, where I have long-served as APCO's local frequency advisor,
there are no channels available for new or expanded public safety radio
communications operations in any of the three main frequency bands in which
public safety mobile radio systems operate: VHF (150-170 MHz), UHF (450-470,
470-512 MHz), or 800 MHz. Thus, many agencies are forced to (a) operate
dangerously overcrowded radio systems; (b) share channels with other agencies
and face the potential for interference, (c) forgo deployment of
state-of-the-art communications tools such as mobile data or trunking
technology, and (d) operate their radio systems on diverse, incompatible radio
frequency bands.
As a current example, the Court System for New York State presently needs a pair
of VHF frequencies for their law enforcement officers to operate in the Criminal
and Superior Court Buildings within New York City. Right now, they are forced to
share radio frequencies utilized by the City of New York. While those agencies
cooperate in the sharing of the frequency, the arrangement place significant
constraints on their operations.
This lack of radio spectrum has existed for many years in the New York area. For
example, over ten years ago, the Garden City, New Jersey, Police Department was
unable to find a public safety channel, but I was able to secure their use of a
VHF business radio frequency. While that worked for awhile, business users are
now creating interference problems for the Police Department's radio system.
Similarly, the City of Newark, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from
Manhattan, is in dire need of a single radio frequency to be used as an input
frequency to a citywide radio system. The frequency presently in use is subject
to constant interference, but no alternative channels are available.
As president of a nationwide organization of public safety communications
professionals, I can assure that similar problems exist across the country.
One of the many consequences of insufficient radio spectrum is the lack of
effective interoperability among first responders in the field. Often, the
police, fire, EMS and other public safety personnel responding to an emergency
are from different agencies or jurisdictions. All too often, these first
responders cannot communicate with each other. This lack of
"interoperability" has many causes, but is often the result of
agencies being forced by spectrum shortages to use a variety of incompatible
public safety frequency bands.
For example, the Suffolk County Police Department operates on 800 MHz
frequencies while fire, EMS, and some police departments within the County
operate on either VHF or UHF frequencies. Similar variations occur in
neighboring Nassau County, and within New York City. This mix of incompatible
frequency operations is a function of spectrum shortages, and leads to serious
interoperability challenges. The agencies in question are working hard to find
ways to interoperate as best they can, but the lack of radio spectrum is a major
hindrance. There are not even enough channels to create a cross-band patch, let
alone sufficient spectrum for a wide-area, multi-agency system in a single
frequency band. Again, this is a common problem in many areas of the country.
Commercial radio systems are not the answer to our problems, though commercial
operations can be helpful for certain types of "non-mission-critical"
state and local government communications. "Mission-critical" public
safety communications require dedicated public safety radio systems and spectrum
to provide an extremely high level of reliability, ubiquitous coverage
throughout the relevant jurisdiction (i.e., no "dead-zones"),
immediate access (i.e., no waiting for clear channels), unfettered control
during emergencies, continuity without regard to the whims of the marketplace,
and ironclad security. Few if any commercial systems satisfy those requirements.
The spectrum problems that I have described are not new. In 1996, the Public
Safety Wireless Advisory Committee (PSWAC) concluded that public safety users
would need an additional 97.5 MHz of spectrum by 2010. Among the specific
recommendations of the PSWAC Report is that 24 MHz of spectrum from the 746-806
MHz band (TV channels 60-69) be made available within five years of the Report.
Ironically, the PSWAC Report was adopted on September 11, 1996. Exactly five
years later, on September 11, 2001, that spectrum was still not available
nationwide.
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 did require the FCC to allocate an additional 24
MHz of radio spectrum for public safety services, and the FCC subsequently did
its part and reallocated to public safety 24 MHz of spectrum from TV channels
63, 64, 68, and 69 (764-776/794-806 MHz). However, the 1997 Act allows
television stations on those and other relevant channels to remain on-the-air
until December 31, 2006, OR until 85% of households in the relevant markets have
the ability to receive digital television (DTV) signals, whichever is later.
Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that the 85% benchmark will be met until
long after 2006. As a result, police, fire, EMS and other public safety
personnel must wait indefinitely for the additional radio spectrum and
communications capabilities that they need today, not at some future, undefined
date.
I want to emphasize that merely speeding up DTV deployment to meet the 85%
benchmark is not enough. Public safety needs a firm date for the new spectrum to
be available, so that state and local governments can proceed with the planning,
design, funding, and construction of new radio systems.
Therefore, we urge Congress to establish December 31, 2006, as a firm and final
date for television stations to vacate the specific channels that block public
safety use of the 700 MHz band spectrum allocated as a result 1997 Balanced
Budget Act. That will give state and local governments the ability to proceed
with new interoperable, state-of-the-art public safety radio systems to provide
new capabilities and/or allow for expansion of overburdened systems operating in
the adjacent 800 MHz band.
As I mentioned earlier, 800 MHz is among the frequency bands in which public
safety channels are no longer available in much of the nation. Unfortunately,
the 800 MHz band is also subject to severe interference problems caused by the
commercial cellular operations of Nextel and other wireless carriers. APCO has
joined with other public safety and private wireless organizations (including
the Industrial Telecommunications Association and PCIA), and Nextel, to create
the "Consensus Plan" to address both of these problems. Not only would
the Consensus Plan eliminate most of the interference problems, it would also
create additional public safety channels in the 800 MHz band. Those additional
channels are especially important right now, insofar as they would provide badly
needed spectrum capacity in markets where the 700 MHz band spectrum remains
blocked by TV station operations.
While additional public safety spectrum is an important benefit of the Consensus
Plan, its principal goal is to address serious interference problems. APCO and
other public safety organizations, such as the International Association of
Chiefs of Police and International Association of Fire Chiefs, continue to
support FCC adoption of the Consensus Plan as the most effective approach to
deal with interference, without imposing costs upon state and local governments.
This Plan would not require any legislative action.
We have carefully studied the causes of interference in the 800 MHz band, and we
are convinced that the problem is severe, wide-spread, and will get worse as
commercial radio systems proliferate. Some have advocated case-by-case
approaches to correct interference problems once they occur, and equipment
improvements that will address some forms of interference. While helpful, such
"reactive" approaches are not sufficient. The critical nature of
public safety communications demands a comprehensive, proactive set of solutions
to prevent interference from occurring in the first place. We believe that such
a solution must include a restructuring of the 800 MHz band, as proposed in the
Consensus Plan.
Mr. Chairman, on behalf of our nation's first responders, I want to thank you
once again for conducting this hearing and for allowing me to appear before you
today. APCO looks forward to working with you and your colleagues to ensure that
public safety agencies have access to the spectrum they need to protect the
safety of life, health, and property.
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