Congress has passed legislation to set a firm date for making spectrum in the 700MHZ band available to public safety; the president is expected to sign it into law.

The Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 (S. 1932) will require television broadcasters to vacate channels 63, 64, 68 and 69 by Feb. 17, 2009. These channels then will be dedicated for exclusive use by public safety agencies. The channels are in the upper 700MHZ band and near the lower 800MHZ band where public safety is being relocated as part of the Consensus Plan rebanding effort currently underway.

This new 24MHZ is equal to the entire public safety spectrum currently available across 10 frequency bands. Essentially, this new law doubles the current spectrum available to public safety.

The legislation also will require the Federal Communications Commission to auction the spectrum not dedicated to public safety by Jan. 28, 2008. The first $7.36 billion raised from the auction will be sent to the U.S. Treasury. Revenue in excess of that amount may become available for several purposes including:

• $1 billion in grants for public safety interoperable communications.
• $156 million for public warning systems.
• $43.5 million to assist E911 programs.