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U.S. Defense Department Could Share Spectrum
With First Responders

.The Department of Defense has submitted a report to Congress on the feasibility of sharing the 138–144 MHz band with public safety users. The engineering study, compiled by the DoD Joint Spectrum Center, identified ways sharing would be possible without interfering with DoD operations. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Spectrum and C3 Policy, Steven Price stated that sharing portions of the 138–144 MHz band with public safety users on a limited, coordinated basis could be possible and that “DoD is willing to work with National Telecommunications and Information Administration, state and local governments and first responders on a case-by-case basis to explore sharing the band for the common good.” Currently, Defense users in this band operate air-surface-air, air traffic control, and ground support functions at military airfields, tactical communications for close air support, land mobile radios for sustaining installation infrastructure support, and land mobile radios and specialized equipment for training and test range support, as well as fire and security alarms, hydrology, and utility controls. The study showed that large distance separations would be required to prevent co-channel and adjacent-channel interference between DoD equipment and potential state and local public safety systems, particularly in the case of DoD air-ground-air radios.