Professor Pitches Emergency Communications Re-Think

Will the reallocation of 24 Mhz worth of spectrum to public safety with the transition to digital TV in February 2009 be a catalyst to create a whole new emergency communications system? According to expert Jon Peha, it should be.

In a new article on the Broadcasting & Cable website, John Eggerton says Peha, a professor of electrical engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon, released a paper last week for a debate in Washington on various scenarios for reforming public safety communications.

In the paper, Peha argued “against what he says are the basic assumptions that local flexibility should trump standardization and regional coordination, that commercial media’s role is limited and that public safety spectrum should not be shared,” Eggerton says.

Peha says new technology and a changed world after 9/11 means we should shift responsibility from independent local government agencies to the federal government and commercial providers. He also says municipal Wi-Fi networks should have an expanded role so the public safety spectrum can be shared with other users.

“He says that the new spectrum, since it is being vacated by legacy TV users, is the ideal place to build a new emergency communications system, rather than manage spectrum according to ‘the same old policies,’” Eggerton adds.