First-responder network requirements issued

A public safety communications umbrella group has published its recommendations for setting up and operating the 700 Mhz broadband network that the Federal Communications Commission is establishing for first responders. The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, which represents more than a dozen organizations involved in first-responder communications, offered its vision of a 24/7-operating network available for critical public safety missions in its 53-page statement of requirements. Those requirements should include mission-critical availability, robustness, accessibility and hardened infrastructures, the council said.
(Washington Technology story; NSPTC statement of requirements)