Washington D.C. is building a state-of-the-art broadband data network for public safety agencies that offers a glimpse into the future of wireless communications.

The District of Columbia’s Regional Wireless Broadband Network (RWBN) will be the nation’s first interoperable broadband network built in the 700 MHz spectrum. The network will provide real-time data and video to 30,000 first responders in what's known as the National Capital Region.

"This broadband data network is a very important step toward public safety moving to the next generation of public safety communications," says Robert LeGrande, interim CTO for the District of Columbia.

The new 700 MHz data network will supplement the voice-only Land Mobile Radio (LMR) equipment that public safety agencies in the region use today. The new network will support the transmission of e-mail as well as images, real-time video and other multimedia services.

The new network is being built using commercial technology. In March, Alcatel-Lucent and LGS, its government services arm, won a five-year contract worth up to $110 million to deploy the network.

"We’re taking commercial technologies, and we’re creatively and innovatively bringing them into a new marketplace," says Ed Bursk, chief marketing officer for LGS. "We’re bringing our government customers significant benefits not only in cost savings but also in performance and…reliability."

Andy Smith, director of public safety at LGS, says the Washington D.C. network is opening a new market for wireless equipment vendors in the area of broadband public safety networks.

"We’re taking a standardized, mature, commercial technology and bringing it into the public safety domain," Smith says. "We're leveraging the economics that exists at the terminal level, which brings down the cost…This opportunity really is the beginning of a new market for all of us in terminals and infrastructure."

Washington D.C. is at the forefront of interoperable wireless communications for public safety agencies.

Interoperability is tricky for the region, which spans two states – Virginia and Maryland – plus the District of Columbia, along with many counties and cities including Arlington, Va., Alexandria, Va., Rockville, Md. and Gaithersburg, Md.