Milwaukee County Trunked Radio System
- Thread starter mkescan
- Start date
- Status
washradiotech
Member
Well mkescan...the Milwaukee system was actually purchased through a TSA grant from Transit. That is why they and the Courthouse were the 1st on the system. Feds paid 80% county paid 20%. I cant remember the total amount, and I think that was for the 2 sites Muridale and US BANK.
They then added more sites and users as time went on. Now they have decided to add some new P25channels to ALL the sites and start to migrate users over to P25 with the plan on converting the anolog over to digital. This all started with them attaining additional new 800mhz frequencies recently giving them an excellent migration path.
But to answer your original question, if you include the price of a new tower/shelter and all the equipment.. you are looking at about 1 million per site.
They then added more sites and users as time went on. Now they have decided to add some new P25channels to ALL the sites and start to migrate users over to P25 with the plan on converting the anolog over to digital. This all started with them attaining additional new 800mhz frequencies recently giving them an excellent migration path.
But to answer your original question, if you include the price of a new tower/shelter and all the equipment.. you are looking at about 1 million per site.
Thanks for the info. I was just curious about how much they spent compared to city of Milwaukee.
Mweiher
Member
Thank you MKESCAN for stepping in to answer questions as best you can! I've been so busy with rebanding that I've not had the chance to check in as often as I'd like. As I will be retiring from Milwaukee County as soon as the rebanding project is complete, my time is limited. However, I do promise to stop by more frequently in the coming months to update as necessary.
The total amount for the analog system, first implemented in 1995, would be difficult to assess as the migration was slow and expansion based on user need through the years. I also believe it's not a fair comparison to base those costs, circa 1990s, with the costs for OpenSky. Our P25 migration, which is in the late planning stages, should have comparable infrastructure costs. Milwaukee County provides the infrastructure only to our users. The costs for subscribers - which quickly mounts - is borne by the muncipalities and agencies on our system.
*Added on edit: Also, we feel strongly that our P25 system will be 100% operational when we first flip the switch. We are putting in a tested and tried system - not allowing the users to be guinea pigs on the latest technology, which may or may not be proven efficient.
Last year, I worked with the Motorola team to determine a full cost for P25 migration - including subscribers. At that time we took the number of P25 capable radios, the number that were fully digital, and the analog-only to determine upgrade costs. The subscribers came to roughly $16 million at that time, with the infrastructure about half that. We now have more subscribers on our system than the city - so the overall costs will be higher.
(As just an FYI, the first P25 site will be closer to $2million because of all the one-time only costs of a master site. After that, they will be far less than the $1 million stated above.)
The total amount for the analog system, first implemented in 1995, would be difficult to assess as the migration was slow and expansion based on user need through the years. I also believe it's not a fair comparison to base those costs, circa 1990s, with the costs for OpenSky. Our P25 migration, which is in the late planning stages, should have comparable infrastructure costs. Milwaukee County provides the infrastructure only to our users. The costs for subscribers - which quickly mounts - is borne by the muncipalities and agencies on our system.
*Added on edit: Also, we feel strongly that our P25 system will be 100% operational when we first flip the switch. We are putting in a tested and tried system - not allowing the users to be guinea pigs on the latest technology, which may or may not be proven efficient.
Last year, I worked with the Motorola team to determine a full cost for P25 migration - including subscribers. At that time we took the number of P25 capable radios, the number that were fully digital, and the analog-only to determine upgrade costs. The subscribers came to roughly $16 million at that time, with the infrastructure about half that. We now have more subscribers on our system than the city - so the overall costs will be higher.
(As just an FYI, the first P25 site will be closer to $2million because of all the one-time only costs of a master site. After that, they will be far less than the $1 million stated above.)
Last edited:
Mweiher
Member
I forgot to add (and didn't want to do another edit) that the costs for the P25 migration will be fully transparent to the taxpayers. The Milwaukee County annual budget is always posted on-line for the citizens to read and evaluate. Each year in the Sept/Oct time frame, the County Board has citizen meetings to allow taxpayers to express views on all budgetary items. The final budget is usually is approved in the 2nd week of November for each subsequent year.
- Status
Similar threads
