They currently have no plans of purchasing any new system with the massive budget cuts. I have a good contact there and the only thing they have done is program in the county police talk groups to their officers radios.
Ive heard Athens-Clarke has discussed a new digital system but funding is years away at this point.
The Walton system isnt within range of a portable for TX so they would have to build another tower in Athens if they wanted to do this.
Actually, Walton's 4-site system covers a very wide area. Since Walton EMC is a partner on the system it covers their 10-county service area (mostly Walton, Oconee, Morgan and Gwinnett but also parts of Clarke, DeKalb, Rockdale, Barrow, Greene and Newton counties. When Walton EMC personnel were doing range testing on the DTRS back in 2008 I heard them from all of these counties using a portable radio.
As far as I know, Walton ambulances do not have mobile radios installed but instead rely on the portable radios carried by the personnel. They call out to dispatch when they arrive at both hospitals in Athens and are also heard from hospitals in Rockdale, Newton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Barrow.
Athens-Clarke has a proposed project on their 2011 SPLOST for a new
digital radio system ($15 million; 3 sites) but the SPLOST won't be finalized until this summer.
SPLOST Information:
SPLOST 2011 Committee Submits List of Candidate Projects to Mayor & Commission - No later than May 3, 2010
Mayor & Commission Approves Final List of SPLOST 2011 Projects - July 6, 2010
SPLOST 2011 Referendum - November 2, 2010