Selling Price
List price is one thing, but do you know the selling price of the Motorola equipment sold to the state? I am sure there was a specification published for the desired equipment and if others met the specs, they could have bid. This was a large project and few manufactures could provide the equipment, parts, service, and backup for a system like this. Motorola is very good in providing a system with support. I read all 3 Denver Post articles regarding Homeland Security spending. The state purchased 5 $338,000 mobile command posts which don't go anywhere, 2 snowcats, hazmat trucks that don't go anywhere, and best of all a 5th wheel trailer for a remote sheriff's department that they only use during hunting season. Of all the equipment purchased, it seems that the radio system is one of the few things that is used every day and it works. As most of you readers on this blog know, the media loves to jump on a radio system story. It's a very competitive business. This article didn't find much to crow about. The article focuses on one rural county and the radio coverage of that county. It is a very large rural area. It can be covered by the new system when the system is built out. Cellular operates on 800 Mhz all over Colorado. There will always be dead spots with any radio system. No radio system offers 100% of the area coverage, 100% of the time.
When cellular was first introduced, you could only use it in the metro areas. One carrier concentrated on large cities while another concentrated on the interstate highway system. They provide city coverage as well. As an example, once you left Denver on I-70 for Kansas City, you were out of range for most of the trip. Over the years, the system was built out and now you can use a portable cell phone in your car and have coverage all the way. Yes, it cost money.
Colorado moved forward with a statewide system, and in my opinion, has one of the best in the country. An article on this forum says that plans for a national emergency radio system still languishes in congress. How long will that take? What will the design look like? Good for Colorado.