Following some comments in the DCNR thread, I thought this would be a good place to discuss the new P25 system in the works.
I predict over a billion taxpayer dollars will be squandered before they walk away from this proprietary schlock. What with radios becoming "obsolete" so quickly, an obvious ploy to keep the cash rolling in, and more than likely even more microsites needed to make it even work. What a mess these politicians have created by not asking for expert opinion and trusting salesmen.
It's funny that you mention radios becoming obsolete "so quickly". All the M-803 mobile radios will be at "end of life" or no longer officially supported by Harris at the end of this year. Maintenance contracts in place will require the repair shops to be able to service these radio for a few more years after that. But...there is a sudden need for hundreds (thousands?) of new mobile radios to replace the M-803's in service all over the place. That's a lotta dough.
If the new system doesn't need all of the gapfiller towers that OpenSky requires perhaps some of the cost of the new system can be defrayed by selling the unneeded sites to tower leasing companies. Another means of helping to reduce costs would be to sell limited access to some transit and utility providers, much as the Commonwealth does now with OpenSky - but only if the system has sufficient capacity to handle the non-essential traffic without reducing functionality for 1st responders and essential users.