The government needs to abandon its old ways of thinking about spectrum use for public safety and adopt a more flexible approach that incorporates a variety of technologies, according to a new white paper released to the public late last week.

The paper, “Taking a Fresh Look at Public Safety’s Spectrum Needs Toward A Next Generation Strategy for Public Safety Communications,” was commissioned by Mobile Satellite Ventures and written by Dale Hatfield of the University of Colorado‘s Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program and Phil Weiser of the University Of Colorado’s School of Law and Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program.

The paper argues that spectrum policy “should not be centered on how much spectrum in the 700 MHz band needs to be dedicated specifically for public safety use. Rather, policy makers should appreciate that a flexible, integrated architecture that relies on more than simply [Land Mobile Radio] systems can best serve many public safety agencies.”

The paper calls for policy makers to focus on making spectrum “generally available for broadband users, whether via unlicensed Wi-Fi-like systems, licensed commercial carriers or satellite providers (including those using hybrid satellite-terrestrial networks with the aid of ancillary terrestrial component technology),” arguing that a flexible approach that encompasses all available technologies will give public service agencies “the benefit of a modern, innovation-rich, low cost network.”

The paper is available on the Web at http://www.msvlp.com.