Fire Chief

A couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate coordinated a demonstration of voice interoperability between six different manufacturers’ systems using a new Bridging System Interface.

Sometimes life forces us to change, even when we’re not ready. Often, it’s gradual. At other times, it comes at us so fast we have to hold on for dear life. And it may happen to us directly or indirectly through heartbreaking events that change the way we see the world.

We’re less than a week away from the beginning of the much-anticipated auction of 700-MHz spectrum, but we still have no indication whether a wireless operator will bid on the 10 MHz of commercial D Block airwaves, which is supposed to be paired with public safety’s 10 MHz to provide the foundation for a nationwide wireless broadband network for emergency responders.

With the 700-MHz auction less than three weeks away, speculation is rampant regarding which operators will secure valuable spectrum, particularly for the 10-MHz D Block that will be paired with public safety’s 10-MHz in the band to provide the foundation for a nationwide broadband wireless network.

Much has been written and said about how the effort to reconfigure the 800-MHz band so that operations by Sprint Nextel no longer cause harmful interference to first responder communications is well behind schedule and likely won’t be completed by the June 26, 2008, deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission. But not much has been written or said about what’s being done to get the derailment back on track.