State Weighs Scrapping Radio Deal

[Thunderbolt]

NEW YORK -- took the first step on Friday toward possibly revoking a $2 billion contract to build a radio network that would allow first responders across the state to communicate with each other during emergencies.

The State Office for Technology said the company hired to do the work, M/A-COM, a subsidiary of Tyco Electronics, had defaulted on the contract because the first installation of the system, near Buffalo, had failed three tests since last September.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/nyregion/30radio.html?ref=nyregion

 

[RocketNJ]

You get what you pay for.
NYS officials should have asked PA how Tyco is doing. (over budget and behind schedule)

I think M/A-COM came in about $1 billion cheaper than Motorola. I don't know if Motorola would have fared any better.

 

[acm10]

More Delays

Sounds like the state is delaying the decition to cut its ties with MA/COM do they realy think ma/com cna fix all of the problems in 45 days, its been almost 3 years and they havnt steped up to the plate yet
sounds like the people in oft are tring to save there own jobs.

 

[K2KOH]

Connecticut...Motorola P25...seems to work for them. Massachusetts...Motorola P25...seems to work for them. Colorado...I can go down the line. As I've said elsewhere, New York has had, shall we say, dealings with M/A Comm since they were General Electric. Need I say anymore?

 

[brey1234]

Details Of Nys Ma/com Problems

http://www.oft.state.ny.us/SWNdocs/docs/NYS_SWN_Default_Letter_Final.pdf

 

[ElroyJetson]

With just 45 days to fix that raft of problems, there's just no way. This is the "polite" way of saying
"Your system sucks, it doesn't work, and we're about ready to call in the scrappers."


Elroy

 

[DaveNF2G]

sounds like the people in oft are tring to save there own jobs.

Many of the people who were involved in getting this contract are no longer with OFT. There were several departures not long after the announcement that SWN would be OpenSky.

 

[EnidPuceflange]

Sounds like the state is delaying the decition to cut its ties with MA/COM do they realy think ma/com cna fix all of the problems in 45 days, its been almost 3 years and they havnt steped up to the plate yet
sounds like the people in oft are tring to save there own jobs.

Nope, just part of the contract. When you write a contract for $1b, you put in how disputes will be resolved.

A large part of this has to do with how the state's finances are nowhere near as rosy as they were when the deal was signed. If the state were to be able to dump the contract it would fix an awful lot of budget problems they have, and make a lot of politicians look good.

The problem for the poor saps that USE the radios however is that there won't BE an alternative. The same problems that got the state motivated enough to sign up for the deal in the first place still exist, but IF they pull the plug they problems won't get fixed at all.

Connecticut...Motorola P25...seems to work for them. Massachusetts...Motorola P25...seems to work for them. Colorado...I can go down the line. As I've said elsewhere, New York has had, shall we say, dealings with M/A Comm since they were General Electric. Need I say anymore?

And BTW, anyone that suggests Colorado's P25 system is a model for any state needs their head (and ears) checking. That system is a nightmare of congestion, poor coverage and audio issues from Hell.

Enid

 

[ECHO3]

"It's All in the Planning"

At least two year's ago I posted a synopsis of Pennsylvania's potential debacle with M/A-Com. The post prompted a personal e-mail from an M/A-Com engineer assigned to the NY project. Although he certainly acknowledged the "difficulties" with the PA initiative he told me that New York would be fine because "it's all in the planning". He might want to rethink his response

 

[gcr33]

No he was actually right. It's also in the lack of planning!!! MA-Comm from Tyco Toys International of Bermuda.

At least two year's ago I posted a synopsis of Pennsylvania's potential debacle with M/A-Com. The post prompted a personal e-mail from an M/A-Com engineer assigned to the NY project. Although he certainly acknowledged the "difficulties" with the PA initiative he told me that New York would be fine because "it's all in the planning". He might want to rethink his response

 

[RayAir]

I live in Oakland County ,MI and we are having the same problems , hardware/software failures and endless delays. My county decided to go with Open Sky back in 2001 and it was supposed to be fully functional by 2004. Only 2 or 3 departments are on it now and 2 of them are having many issues and still using their VHF radios and cell phones. I wish Oakland County would wake up and dump Open Sky. Surrounding counties have decided to go to the states P25 system a couple of years back and are up and running already. Michigan has a statewide digital P25 system that was already in existence before Oakland County decided to go Open Sky. And if they had to choose M/A-Com they should have went to EDACS which is a proven system. Consumers Energy here has a statewide EDACS analog and Pro Voice system that has been working for over a decade with 99.7% reliability. If Oakland County wanted new technology they could have went EDACS Pro Voice like Florida did. It is funny how county officials here are trying to downplay this and keep it ultra secret about the endless delays and failures. They tried a full cut-over to Open Sky numerous times and it failed every time.

 

[CCHLLM]

Why OpenSky doesn't pan out for most of these large area systems I don't know, but the real mystery to me is why NY has put up with the BS for as long as they have.

Once upon a time, back in the old days when GE was really something to respect in the two-way radio business, I was a die hard GE fan. Then Ericsson got involved and things steadily went to hell in a handbasket. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not even close to being a MA/COM fan, but I will also state that as far as EDACS and Pro-Voice go, I've never seen any of their systems that had proper financial and engineering support fail to work as advertised.

Yeah, like every other manufacturer, including MotherMoto (maybe especially including MotherMoto), they've produced some real crap along the way, but the high end stuff always seemed to live up to the claims. As long as there are memories of Aerotron in the communications business, there will always be the lowest bar a manufacturer has to pass.