WASHINGTON -- So much of the government's recent attention to broadband networks has focused on the networks used by consumers, but in the backdrop of that heavily-lobbied debate are policymakers' concerns over the use of broadband to improve public safety.

But with a thicket of state, local and tribal jurisdictions with widely varying needs and budgets, the goal of a nationwide, interoperable broadband-enabled communications network has remained elusive.

The Federal Communications Commission, which is developing a national broadband plan to present to Congress in February, today convened federal officials, doctors, police officers and first responders from around the country at Georgetown University to consider that issue.

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