[Infowarrior] - US sets final emergency responder wireless pilot

[Richard Forno]

Published on NetworkWorld.com Community (http://www.networkworld.com/community 
)

US sets final emergency responder wireless pilot
By Layer 8
Created Jul 1 2009 - 5:12pm
http://www.networkworld.com/community/print/43196
Looking to help eliminate [1] the dangerous and inefficient hodgepodge  
of communication and network technology used by emergency response  
personnel, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today said it  
had picked 14 groups from across the country [2] to pilot an ambitious  
Multi-Band Radio project.

In 2008, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate [3] awarded a $6.2  
million contract to Thales Communications to demonstrate the first- 
ever portable radio prototype that lets emergency responders-police,  
firefighters, emergency medical personnel and others-communicate with  
partner agencies, regardless of the radio band they operate on. This  
is the final pilot in a three-part test, DHS said.

Currently radios only operate within a specific frequency band;  
subsequently, responders are often unable to communicate with other  
agencies and support units that operate in different radio  
frequencies.  Comparable in size and weight to existing portable  
radios with similar features, multi-band radio would provide users  
with much-improved incident communications capabilities, the DHS [4]  
stated.

Thales Liberty multiband mobile radio received US Federal  
Communications Commission (FCC) certification in April. The Liberty  
radio is made in the U.S. and is the first multiband, software-defined  
LMR designed specifically for government agencies and first  
responders, the company [5] said.

The MBR prototype [6] is capable of operating in the primary public  
safety bands between 136-174 megahertz (MHz) and 380-520 MHz as well  
as in the 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands. Additionally, when authorized,  
the MBR is capable of operating on the Department of Defense bands in  
the 136-138 MHz and 380- 400 MHz ranges as well two Federal Government  
bands: 162-174 MHz and 406.1-420 MHz. This capability will for the  
first time let for Federal agencies interoperate with local, tribal,  
regional, and state counterparts, the DHS said. Carrying a price tag  
of $4,000-$6,000, the MBR is equal in form, factor, and cost to  
existing high-end portable radios, the DHS said.

The 14 pilot organizations are:

  -2010 Olympic Security Committee (Blaine, Wash., and Vancouver, B.C.  
Canada)

-Amtrak (Northeast Corridor)

-Boise Fire Department (Boise, Idaho)

-Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (Ottawa, ON Canada)

-Customs and Border Patrol (Detroit)

-Federal Emergency Management Agency (Multiple Locations)

-Hawaii State Civil Defense (Honolulu)

-Interagency Communication Interoperability System (Los Angeles  
County, Calif.)

-Michigan Emergency Medical Services (Lower Peninsula Areas)

-Murray State University (Southwest Kentucky)

-Phoenix Police Department and Arizona Department of Emergency -- 
Management Greater Phoenix and Yuma County)

-Texas National Guard (Austin, Texas)

-U.S. Marshals Service (Northeast Region)

-Washington Metro Area Transit Authority Transit Police (District of  
Columbia)

Each agency will conduct a minimum 30-day pilot in fall 2009.