EWA Files Comments on 700 MHz Public Safety Network

(Mclean, VA) The EWA FCC filing of April 11, 2011, was in response to the 4th FNPRM on January 26, 2011, which sought guidance on the interpretation of the statutory definition of public safety eligibility to operate on the “nationwide broadband, interoperable public safety network at 700 MHz.”  EWA recommended that the FCC adopt rules that allow public safety licensees and lessees of 700 MHz broadband spectrum to “determine which entities should be permitted to share the spectrum in furtherance of the legislative directive that it be used to protect the safety of life, health and property.”  EWA noted that it is “reasonable to assume that Congress did not intend to so restrict public safety as to deprive it of the ability to share the spectrum as necessary and appropriate” and, further, “use of the network should extend not only to all governmental use, but also to shared use with utilities and other CI entities whose assistance can be critical during emergency situations.”