Chief Jeff Johnson, former president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and current chief executive officer of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, recently was appointed chair of the Public Safety Advisory Committee of the Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC) by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. ERIC oversees the technical and operational framework development of a nationwide public-safety wireless broadband network.

Johnson joined Associate Editor Mary Rose Roberts to discuss Obama's Feb. 10 speech at Northern Michigan University, where he set forth the administration's priorities for a public-safety broadband network. In the podcast, he explains the administration plan for a $5 billion investment in fourth-generation — commonly known as "4G" — wireless network infrastructure to facilitate the establishment of a nationwide interoperable public-safety network. He also will provide insight on voluntary incentive auctions to procure spectrum and funding; on the division of promised 500 MHz of spectrum; and why Long Term Evolution (LTE) — one version of a 4G network — was established as an operating standard for public safety.