Spectrum considerations for public safety in the United States

Since the inception of mobile radio, public safety agencies have relied on wireless communication systems to coordinate day-to-day and emergency operations. The decentralized and autonomous nature of the various public safety agencies in the United States has led to the deployment of a variety of systems operating in a fragmented spectrum, ranging from lower VHF to upper UHF. Due to the narrowband technologies used in public safety communications systems, public safety agencies have been limited primarily to voice services and low-speed data transfer on their private networks. In contrast, the commercial cellular sector now offers a large portfolio of services that include voice, messaging, email, Web browsing, picture transfer, video streaming, and other wideband services. In this article, some of the factors driving the expansion of spectrum allocated to public safety agencies arc described.