This incident brings back memories of the communications challenges during the
911 attacks. It ALSO is a reminder of the ineptitude of Federal, State and
local governments governments to deal with the communications issues of our
first responders...
This problem was “supposed to” be resolved by allocating spectrum for public
safety as this FCC website explains:
https://www.fcc.gov/700-mhz-public-safety-narrowband-spectrum
700 MHz Public Safety Spectrum
Here we learn:
On February 22, 2012, the U.S Congress enacted the Middle Class Tax Relief
and Job Recovery Act of 2012 (Spectrum Act) which:
Directed the Commission to allocate the D-Block (758-763 MHz / 788-793 MHz)
to public safety for use in a nationwide broadband network; and
Formed the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) as an independent
authority within the U.S. Department of Commerce. FirstNet is charged with
responsibilities for deploying and operating the nationwide public safety
broadband network and will hold the license for both the existing public
safety broadband spectrum (763-769 MHz/793-799 MHz) and the reallocated D
Block.
Allocated up to $7 billion dollars to FirstNet to construct this nationwide
public safety broadband network.
Santa Clara brought the van to the Mendocino fire to help route fire-engine
traffic and other logistical tasks. Despite pleas from the firefighters,
Verizon lifted the cap on data speeds only after Santa Clara agreed to switch
to a more expensive data plan. In the meantime, the firefighters borrowed
phones from other agencies to keep communications flowing.
Read more here:
https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article217296475.html#storylink=cpy