The White House said Fri. it was already making changes to improv...
The White House said Fri. it was already making changes to improve interoperability suggested in the 9/11 Commission report (www.9-11commission.gov). The report said Congress should adopt legislation that provides for expedited and increased assignment of radio spectrum for public…
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safety purposes. Though the report doesn’t identify the legislation, its description is similar to HR-1425, introduced by Rep. Harman (D-Cal.), which would require that broadcasters vacate the analog spectrum by 2006. The White House said the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Interoperability & Compatibility (OIC), being put together, would balance federal, state and local interoperability issues and would “leverage both ongoing and new efforts to improve the compatibility of equipment, training and procedures.” The OIC will pick up many of the responsibilities of the DHS SAFECOM project, which also coordinated interoperability. During a recent House Govt. Reform National Security Subcommittee hearing, witnesses warned that interoperability would take longer to develop than many lawmakers anticipated (CD July 21 p2). The GAO testified at the hearing that it was difficult to predict whether the OIC would be effective because much of its structure hadn’t been developed. The 9/11 Commission also recommended a “signal corps” for high-risk urban areas, such as N.Y.C. and Washington, D.C. The White House said the RapidCon program was coordinating state and local leadership in N.Y.C., the D.C. region and 8 other major cities to ensure first responder communication. “In addition to these targeted efforts, interoperable communications planning and equipment has been a high priority for Federal homeland security assistance to states and localities, particularly in high-risk urban areas,” the White House said.