Sprint Asks Obama to Set Up $2 Billion First-Responder Network

I think the biggest reason to go with Nextel as opposed to the others is the 700 MHZ footprint. That wavelength can penetrate into a lot of places that Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile can't. Places like buildings that are on fire, or underneath collapsed structures.

Also, regardless of how calls are made, having the option of your phone also having an alternate 2-way communications system (DirecTalk) built in, without extra handsets or hardware is crucial.

Now, whether this carrier or that carrier was still in service on 9/11 or during Katrina is pretty irrelevant. At one moment or another, every carrier has failed while others were triumphant. The important thing is to look at the whole. With Verizon and AT&T, you have a wide network, 1200+ MHZ spectrum, and PTT that is dependent on data services, which you aren't going to find in many places, and which when networks are stressed, is the first thing to fail. And anyone suggesting T-Mobile should be shot.

The clear answer of what technology should be used in a National Emergency Network is iDen.