WASHINGTON — The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International today applauded congress for the establishment of a hard date to end the digital television (DTV) transition and clear broadcasters off the 24 MHz of public safety spectrum in the 700 MHz band. 

The House of Representatives approved the Senate's changes to "The Budget Reduction Act (S. 1932)" yesterday by a vote of 216-214. Title III, Section 3002 of "The Budget Reduction Act" establishes February 17, 2009 as the hard date and establishes a $1 billion "Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program."

"APCO International is pleased by Congress' action to establish a hard date for the DTV transition and to fund critical public safety programs. This will allow state and local public safety agencies to move forward towards planning, funding, and deployment of new state of the art, interoperable communications systems," APCO International President Wanda McCarley said. "Although we still wish the clearing of the spectrum could occur as close to 2006 as possible, our main goal was the establishment of a hard date."

Visit http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.1932: to view the text of the bill.

About APCO International

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to the enhancement of public safety communications. APCO International serves the professional needs of its 15,000 members worldwide by creating a platform for setting professional standards, addressing professional issues and providing education, products and services for people who manage, operate, maintain and supply the communications systems
used by police, fire and emergency medical dispatch agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.apcointl.org.