Breaking News
Tri-Services Issue News Release on Spectrum for Public Safety
On March 28, 2012, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) and Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada (EMSCC) joined together to express their support for the Government of Canada’s designation of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for public safety broadband use by issuing a press release (download English or French).
D-Block allocated to Public Safety in U.S. – An Historic Win for First Responders
On February 17, 2012, US Congress agreed to allocate the D Block to public safety and support the development of a mission-critical, nationwide public safety broadband network. In a live webcast press conference held Thursday afternoon, four key Democratic Senators invoked stories about police, fire, and EMS personnel killed on 9/11 as they announced an historic deal to give America’s first responders a nationwide interoperable wireless broadband network. Of course, this is good news for Canada as public safety partners continue to raise awareness about securing the corresponding block of spectrum for Canadian responders.
August 21, 2011, Speaking to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police in Windsor, Ontario Sunday evening, associate Minister of National Defence Julian Fantino commented on how the government is working with the police chiefs to advance a first-responders strategy that has uniform standards across communications equipment and a co-ordinated management response. Also key to interoperability is securing a dedicated broadband spectrum for public safety use. This news was received positively for those advocating that 20 MHz of bandwidth from the 700 MHz spectrum be set aside for public safety purposes.
April 19, 2011, Tri-Services issue media release at Emergency Services Management Conference in Montreal. Conference presentation.
April 6, 2011, Tri-Services Reply to Comments from Other Parties (21 pages) Regarding Responses to SMSE-018-10. Click here to view the original submission and related materials.
On February 28, 2011, the Tri-Services Special Purpose Committee on 700 MHz Broadband for Mission Critical Public Safety Data (on behalf of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada and its public safety partners) submitted its response to the Industry Canada consultation. Click here to view the submission and related materials.
What's at stake?
In Canada, August 30, 2011 marks the transition from analog television to digital, freeing up spectrum for potential use by public safety. Many private and public agencies are vying for the additional (and very valuable) spectrum, and Industry Canada (our nation’s spectrum regulator) recently opened consultations on the 700 MHz broadband allocations. Canadian police, fire, medical and other emergency professionals must have access to modern and reliable communications capabilities, including high speed data and video, to communicate with each other across agencies and jurisdictions during emergencies and during day-to-day operations. Public safety’s voice must be heard. We need the right tools to protect and save lives.
Why?
- Improves the tri-services ability to protect and save lives.
- The ability to create nationwide, public safety interoperable wireless broadband network for mission critical data is vitally needed. This is the required 21st Century communications system for Canada’s responders.
- Spectrum allocations are a key enabler to the Canadian tri-services vision of improved interoperability and integrated emergency management.
- The needs of Canadian responder agencies (and broader public safety community) must be considered during the spectrum allocation process with a vision to build a robust system that meets Public Safety’s mission critical requirements.
What can you do?
- Get informed and put this issue on your organization’s radar.
- Inform your boards, municipalities, provincial/territorial governments and other governing bodies that spectrum allocations will have a significant impact on public safety in Canada.
- Work with tri-services colleagues and others to advocate a strong voice for public safety in advance of spectrum allocations.
- Look for and act on mobilization information as it sent by CACP, CAFC, EMSCC and others.