Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wyoming Statewide Public Safety Mobile Communications (PSMC) Plan

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 06:27:10 -0400

February 6, 2003

Wyoming Statewide

Public Safety Mobile Communications (PSMC) Plan

The Wyoming statewide PSMC Plan is due by October 2003.

The PSMC initiative will consider adding new mobile communications technology:

• To save lives by reducing the risks that accompany incompatible, overloaded and
obsolete voice radio
systems; and,

• to reap the benefits of wireless data systems.
A PSMC Project Team and PSMC Steering Committee are guiding this planning effort.
They
are committed to:

• Working with organizations at city, county, state, federal and other levels to
ensure a shared and
cooperative public safety planning effort; and

• leading a consultant firm to write a PSMC plan by October 2003; and

• working with these organizations to implement the plan for a truly state-wide
public safety mobile
communications system.

A Brief History
Facing bandwidth changes, aging equipment and interoperability issues the State
Agency Law
Enforcement Communications System Commission (SALECS) and the Wyoming Chapter of
the Association of Communication Officials (WYAPCO) became concerned about
Wyoming’s
public safety radio infrastructure in the mid-1990’s. To that cause, the two
organizations and
other committed entities began studying the issues and raising the awareness
through different
forums. After the tragic events of 2001/09/11, the newly formed WY Homeland
Security
Council tasked the SALECS Commission with forming a Steering Committee and
studying
public safety radio improvements in earnest. After extensive evaluation, the
consultant firm
Federal Engineering was contracted to write an authoritative plan for WY.

Why Participate in the Planning Effort?

The Wyoming statewide PSMC Plan is due by October 2003. It will detail the
benefits and
costs of three alternatives. One of those alternatives will be “doing nothing,”
which would
actually be a decision to not pursue coordinated state-wide improvements; rather,
individual
agencies would each make necessary radio improvements as it seems best to them,
independently. The analysis done by the PSMC Plan will pave the way for a Steering

Committee recommendation, in time for the 2004 legislative session. Your
participation in the
process will help make the plan reflect your agency’s needs. Your advocacy for a
coordinated
plan will help ensure Wyoming makes the most cost-effective improvements, to the
benefit of
all Wyoming public safety interests.

For More Information…

On the reverse of this page are some "Frequently Asked Questions."

Periodically, the Project Manager sends status reports; if you’d like to receive
these, please call:
Robert Wilson at 307-777-4440

Past reports are posted with various supporting previous project info at:
http://ipc.state.wy.us/radio_index.asp

Answers to Frequent Questions about the
Wyoming Public Safety Mobile Communications (PSMC) Plan

Do we really need another study? This is more than a study: it will produce a
plan. Past analysis and
justification is important up-front information that will be updated. The
consultant will go on to prepare
in-depth business cases, cost estimates, and system architecture.

Will the plan be biased? No. Our independent consultant is not a potential
communication service
provider. In effect, we are hiring an architect for radios. Alternative analysis
will objectively consider
not doing a statewide project, as well as the possibility of partnerships, and
leased or hybrid networks.
Objective and authoritative cost estimates of candidates are required. There are
no preconceived
technological solutions.

Is this an unfunded mandate for local government to buy new equipment? No. It is
intended to take
full advantage of new technology for those that can buy new mobile radio
equipment, without degrading
service of those who have to wait to buy new equipment. It will provide linkage to
older equipment and
have flexibility to interoperate with various systems. Emergency responder
interoperability will remain a
requirement as planning proceeds.

How are we going to pay for it? We do not know yet. The PSMC Steering Committee
will seek, share,
and pursue innovative funding sources.

Who will be in charge of the plan? The PSMC Steering Committee. Broad
representation on the
Steering Committee includes SALECS, the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, the
Wyoming
County Commissioners Association, the Wyoming APCO Chapter, the Wyoming
Telecommunications
Council, and about 10 more organizations from Wyoming Health, Fire, and Law
Enforcement
communities and Federal agencies. Our basic premise is cooperation for a truly
statewide system, not a
system dominated by any one agency. This implies integration with local, adjacent
state, federal, and
other agency initiatives. PSMC cooperative planning will allow Wyoming to avoid
communications
chaos that could result from independently pursued communications systems.

What about publicly available mobile communications? New PSMC alternatives will
include some
way of transferring information with public, commercially available voice and data
communication
systems. Planning will consider transfer of emergency information to and from many
sources to public
safety vehicles. The Steering Committee recognizes the importance of connectivity
with cell phones and
other publicly available communications, and also their historical unreliability
for emergency responder
use during a widespread emergency. Publicly available systems complement, but do
not replace, the
need for the envisioned PSMC system. The functionality of cell phones is
person-to-person, unlike
public safety communications channels; also, cell phone coverage is very limited
in Wyoming. The costs
of real-time voice communications by satellite are very high.

Will we be asked to tear out and replace the new system every five years? No.
Planning will explicitly
address technology innovations and how they may be adopted. Implementation will
require best systems
engineering disciplines for efficient and cost-effective updating of the system
over a long lifespan. (E.g.,
modular, open-systems design, using appropriate technical standards.)

Will dispatching services still be done locally for local agencies joining the
system? Yes. This plan
will address statewide communications infrastructure, not a statewide dispatching
service. The PSMC
plan will not propose to change your existing dispatching procedures and
agreements.

http://ipc.state.wy.us/..%5Cradio%5CPlan_FAQs.pdf