Seven years after the 9/11 terror attacks, we still don’t have an interoperable public safety network for first responders.

Inexcusable.

We had a shot at it with the FCC’s 700MHz spectrum auction earlier this year, but the agency imposed such ridiculous requirements on the D Block that no one placed a serious bid on it. The situation could change if FCC commissioners agree with Chairman Kevin Martin’s proposal to loosen the rules. That’ll be decided Sept. 25, if the agency keeps the item on the agenda.

There’ve been all sorts of proposals for how to get a public safety network up and running. The technology is there. The money? Debatable. The support? Also debatable. Obviously there are lawmakers in Congress who want this network as much as the people do. But when there’s all talk and little action, one wonders when anything will get done. What’s the solution? Has the private sector take over? That’s a prospect about as appealing as privatizing Social Security. It does seem, though, that there needs to be cooperation between government and business to get this thing done, some sort of middle ground to be attained. I don’t know what the holdup is beyond red tape and failure to make the D Block attractive, so it’s hard to proffer suggestions for progress.

It just seems a huge disservice to the first responders and other citizens who died in the attacks, to their families, and to the rest of us, not to have had an interoperable network in place long ago.