The FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau plans to issue a public notice exploring whether promoting competition in the public safety communications market would help public safety agencies. This was disclosed in a letter from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowskito the Chairs and ranking members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Communications, Technology, and the Internet subcommittee. In the letter, Genachowski said that the competition public notice would “seek comment on whether and to what extent the interoperability for public safety narrowband voice communications has been hindered by a lack of competition in equipment and device availability, and how this can be remedied in the future." Regarding broadband communications, he said, "The current structure of the public safety equipment market may hinder efforts to achieve interoperability for a broadband public safety network. To remedy this state of affairs, the National Broadband Plan recommended an incentive-based partnership approach that leverages commercial technology and economies of scale, including the commercial deployment of a broadband wireless network using the D block." 

Meanwhile, Reps. Jane Harman (D- CA) and John Shimkus (R-IL) have introduced legislation titled "Next Generation Public Safety Device Act of 2010" that seeks to spur competition and innovation in the public safety broadband equipment market through a $70 million grant competition. Rep. Harman is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee's intelligence, information sharing, and terrorism risk assessment subcommittee. The proposed legislation would authorize a $70 million grant competition, overseen by the NTIA, for developing and making prototype voice and data handsets and vehicle-portable public safety 700 megahertz band devices. NTIA would hold the contest in consultation with the FCC, NIST and the DHS Office of Emergency Communications.