Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Upgrade is near for public safety radio network

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 11:33:20 -0500

Upgrade is near for public safety radio network

By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune

A communications overhaul that will connect Utah's rural communities with public
safety radio frequencies on the Wasatch Front is expected to be in place within
a year.

That upgrade was one of the subjects outlined during a seminar last week
sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's SAFECOM program and the
Utah Communications Agency Network (UCAN).

Utah's public safety agencies make 190,000 radio calls every 24 hours, ranging
from routine checks on license plates to major emergency alerts.

The bulk of the calls come from the nine counties along the Wasatch Front that
invested $20 million in sites, towers and networks to operate on an 800
megahertz system in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics.  By placing transmitters
on mountaintops, the rest of the state, which currently operates on 150
megahertz, will be connected to the system within a year.
Steve Proctor, UCAN executive director, called it an "electronic bridge."

"Through our lessons
learned during the
Olympics we realize what
a benefit it is to talk to
our sister agencies," he
said. Meantime, state and
federal officials used the
conference to stress the
shrinking nature of radio
frequency, or spectrum,
warning the volume of
calls and even digital radio
has created significant
congestion on the
airwaves. "A few years ago
we ate one sandwich per
meal, now we have to eat half a sandwich," Don Speights, National
Telecommunications and Information Administration public safety division chief
said while outlining a plan called "narrowbanding." The idea -- to partner for
efficiency and force agencies onto a like bandwidth -- is part of a federal
mandate to have all public safety systems using narrowband equipment by 2018.
Harlin McEwen, a former FBI deputy assistant director and retired police chief
from New York, said police and fire outlets need to take the new standard
seriously.

"If you don't pay attention to this you're going to be in serious trouble,"
McEwen said. "If you don't have all the equipment ready, you're going to be off
the air."

Federal officials are also considering moving the deadline for narrowbanding up
to 2013.
"The spectrum is a precious resource," Proctor added. "There are only
so many radio channels."

[email-masked]

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jan/01262004/utah/132721.asp
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