Congress earmarks funds for interoperable communications: "Interoperable communications for first responders gets a boost in two pieces of legislation moving through Congress. A budget reconciliation bill, approved by the House Monday, includes a new $1 billion federal grant program for police and fire agency interoperable communications to be funded by the public auction of radio spectrum. The Senate is expected to vote on the Deficit Reduction Act (S1932) this week. "

SAFECOM Baseline Survey - Public comments solicited: "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is soliciting public comment on the Office of Systems Engineering and Development SAFECOM Interoperability Baseline Survey."

In NYC, communication issues fixed: "Police and firefighters can communicate during emergencies in New York City, officials said Monday as a federal report decried the lack of such communications on a national level."

Communications gap persists: "Disaster planners in Pierce County [WA] have long known their version of Hurricane Katrina would not be a hurricane. It might well be a major earthquake. Or it might be a huge mudflow that breaks loose without warning from Mount Rainier’s west flank – a lahar that swallows everything in its path and buries the Puyallup Valley floor, where some 60,000 people live. Officials are also aware that communication won’t be as smooth as they’d like during a lahar. They’d have to follow strict protocol and be careful not to tie up radio frequencies"

Hurricanes a boost for Integrated Wireless Network: "Prospects might be brightening slightly for procurement activity on the multibillion-dollar federal Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) as a result of lessons learned from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The new national network, which may take 15 years to build and has a price tag estimated at up to $10 billion, would bring together federal law enforcement agents from the Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury departments into a single wireless infrastructure. "