Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai met with public safety officials on Friday to discuss progress made in updating communications equipment to allow different departments to communicate during an emergency.
Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, first responders learned that they weren’t able to communicate with other departments because their radio frequencies were different. The FCC attempted to solve the problem by initiating the development of a national public safety communications network.
“This is of the utmost importance to the safety and well-being of our first responders, not just here in southwest Michigan but throughout the country,” Upton, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said.
The First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet, was established through the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. Under the measure, a portion of the proceeds of commercial spectrum auctions will be used to fund FirstNet and its mission to provide nationwide broadband communications to first responders.
“This will be the first time something like this has been done,” Pai said. “It is complicated. But, hopefully, with the guidance of public safety officials, we can deliver. I know I will take what I have learned today from my meeting here to heart and let officials in Washington know how this affects people on the ground, those actually using the system as it is today.”
Upton and Pai met with a dozen representatives from law enforcement agencies on Friday in Kalamazoo, Mich., to discuss the benefits and challenges of FirstNet.