Recommendations for L.A. Countywide radio system
zerg901 said:
Thanks for the reply Radio Lady. Any news on the future radio plans for LA County Sheriff / LA County Fire / LA City Fire? I have not seen anything for several months. Peter S
The final "interoperability" report was brought to the City Council in June, with the recommendation that the most feasible solution, technically, politically, and financially, would be a region-wide voice and data radio system, shared by LAPD, LAFD, LASD, LACoFD, LACo Health Services, and the many other public safety agencies within Los Angeles County. It would be created by pooling the agencies' existing UHF band radio frequencies into a shared digital trunked radio system for voice, and the agencies' existing 800 MHz frequencies into a shared mobile data system.
RCC Consultants, who did this LAFD/City of L.A. study, had already been contracted by LASD and LACoFD to study a joint radio system for them, so presumably everyone will be looking at a similar game plan.
Costs for a countywide system were estimated to be between $480 - $600 million, and grant funding is supposed to be being pursued by as many agencies as can be brought on board. Other issues that would need to be resolved would be governance of the countywide system, transitioning of the many agencies from their existing systems, integration of agencies that would remain on other bands for the foreseeable future (such as CHP, CDF, USCG, FBI, and most other Federal and military agencies).
Use of 700/800 MHz for voice, or for voice AND data, was considered, but deemed less desirable at least in the near-term, since the 2009 "cut-off" date for 700 may easily keep slipping away, and there are already enough UHF frequencies licensed to agencies within LA County to handle a trunked, digital system for all users. Also, 700/800 are thought to be more problematic as far as coverage within buildings, in downtown areas, and in canyons, as well as requiring significantly more TX/RX sites to give overall coverage equivalent to UHF. Trunking was recommended as being the most bandwidth-efficient, and P25 digital for the same reason as well as because it's getting difficult if not impossible to get new funding or grants from Uncle Sam for non-P25 systems.
RCC Consultants apparently did a lot of talking to a lot of agencies in preparing their report, including Alhambra, Baldwin Park, Bell Gardens, Beverly Hils, Burbank, Claremont, Culver City, Downey, EI Segundo, Glendale, Hermosa Beach, Interagency Communications Interoperability System (lCIS), Long Beach, L.A. World Airports, LAPD, LAFD, LA Port Police, LASD, LACoFD, other LA City and LA County agencies, Manhattan Beach, San Fernando, San Marino, Santa Monica, South Gate, South Pasadena, Vernon, and West Covina.
ICIS was cited by a number of people as a model for a countywide system, and LARTCS was also frequently mentioned as a good interim fix, but it was often described as being cumbersome and probably not robust enough to handle a major disaster.
