In a letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski, the bipartisan leadership of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce express concern about the dominant position Motorola holds in the public safety radio communications market. The House committee members have realized what industry insiders have known for years. Motorola has manipulated industry standards and introduced proprietary variants into its narrow band digital radio products sold to public safety agencies resulting in unnecessarily high prices and stifled competition.

The House Committee members recognize the same Motorola behavior appears to be continuing as public safety agencies move toward broadband technology. The Committee is asking good questions and laying the groundwork to assure adherence to open standards and unrestricted competition.

The position taken by the Committee is directly relevant to the Bay Area’s troubled BayWEB project. See Bay Emergency Networks in Disarray and The appearance of impropriety series of articles.