Motorola Solutions and the state of Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) did not meet the DMS-imposed deadline of Dec. 31 to finalize a $687.8 million contract that would have Motorola Solutions build a statewide Project 25 (P25) network, but it is unclear what next steps are being...
urgentcomm.com
I can't blame Motorola for being hesitant to accept that extreme language; every Motorola contract I've ever dealt with had project milestones, in which I as the customer had to pay a certain amount every time a significant milestone was reached (so much at contract signing, so much at equipment assembly and testing, so much more after installation, and the final payment upon final acceptance).
The way it sounds, Florida's "terminate for convenience" clause means that Motorola could manufacture all the hardware, assemble and install it, get the system running and ready for use, and the state could still walk away without spending a dime prior to final acceptance. Motorola would then be on the hook for hundreds of millions in equipment and labor costs, as well as further costs to remove everything.
Terminate for convenience usually means that the entity is only liable for costs incurred to the point they canceled the project. The State of New York used a similar tactic when testing OpenSly in the Buffalo area, but that was only a two-county test rollout (don't recall if they ended up paying anything or not but I'd guess they did).
