Washington, DC - Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, hailed the decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to authorize the use of the 4.9 GHz spectrum within the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) and subsequently grant a nationwide license to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to administer it. 

“The FOP campaigned hard to beat back the efforts of for-profit companies and organizations like the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) to use the false banner of ‘local control’ to encroach upon public safety’s 4.9 GHz spectrum for their own commercial purposes,” Yoes said.  “Today is a victory for public safety over private profit.”

The FOP and our counterparts in the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) represent the overwhelming majority of the public safety practitioners that use these networks in the field.  In fact, their very lives depend on the reliability and effectiveness of these communication systems.  Non-public safety organizations in the private sector, critical infrastructure operators, and transportation providers sought to encroach upon public safety’s 4.9 GHz spectrum for their own commercial purposes. A fractured, patchwork approach—which they disingenuously describe as “local control”—is unworkable, as that approach lacks the necessary economies of scale and increases the use of the band to drive innovation.  The lack of a national licensee to administer the band within the NPSBN would have resulted in commercial entities “cherry-picking” the most desirable areas for 5G investment, while leaving much of the country unserved. 

“The FOP is grateful to FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr, who took the time to engage with us, as well as with the IAFF and IACP, and really listened and considered the views of the men and women who rely on these communications systems while protecting their communities,” Yoes said.  “We look forward to working with our FirstNet partners to ensure that our public safety officers have the most effective and reliable communication, which is absolutely vital to their safety and that of the general public.”