WNY OpenSky is Cloudy

[SkyPager]

ALBANY — A crucial round of testing of an expensive new emergency communications system— being evaluated in Erie and Chautauqua counties before it goes statewide — has been postponed just a month before officials must decide the project’s fate.

The head of the state agency overseeing the project told The Buffalo News she has begun making contingency plans if the vendor now running the ambitious $2 billion project fails to live up to the contract’s terms by the end of August.

Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, director of the state’s Office for Technology, said tests scheduled for this week and next in Erie County have been put off until the company running the project, M/A-COM, can correct several key problems affecting the ability of first responders to communicate with one another.

Link to full text http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/401488.html

 

[c0untyb0y]

OK... here's what I think will happen.

* State plans for contingency... whatever that means.
* M/A COM system fails last test.
* August 29th comes and goes.
* Current radio systems continue to operate normally.
* Back to square one, less part of $2 billion already paid to M/A COM.

Apparently one state agency's radio shop has already alluded to the fact that M/A COM is, for lack of a better word, pissed at the state and as such said shop is having a very difficult time obtaining replacement parts - batteries, antennas, etc. - for existing equipment. Of course, I found it very funny that there was a CB radio sitting on the workbench there. I wonder if that IS the contingency plan!!!

 

[brey1234]

Lancaster Co Pa

Remember: Lancaster County Pa terminated it's contract with Ma/Com. A long thread can be found in the Pa forums site.

As for the Pa statewide system. It's overbudget by millions and was supposed to be online in 2001.
The orginial idea was to have local departments piggyback onto the statewide Open Sky system. That didn't fly so the state spent even more money putting in analog stations in the VHF and UHF bands. That means the locals don't have to spend tons of money and buy into Open Sky. The idea is those on VHF will get "patched" via national 155.475 and those in the UHF range will be "patched" into a series of UHF repeaters in the state.

 

[N4DES]

The same is happening with the consortium of West Pam Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and the Town of Palm Beach in Florida. The original announcement to go live went out in April of 2001 with a one year build out for the First Phase and the users are still on West Palm Beach's Motorola Type II system.

http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2001/109/news3.html

Meanwhile the "other cities" that were part of this consortium at one time have divorced themselves from it and have either joined with the County or stayed on their own systems.

http://weekdaynewspaper.com/Council & Commisions Meetings/NPB Co. Me..htm

· Unanimously adopted a resolution approving an Interlocal Agreement with Palm Beach County for Village access to the County’s 800 MHz radio system, terminating membership in the Municipal Public Safety Communications Consortium (MPSCC) and revoking pledge of $12.50 fine revenues to MPSCC.

· Unanimously adopted a resolution approving the sole source of radios, dispatch consoles and related equipment and services from Motorola, Inc. in the total amount of $270,417.44 and approving a budget amendment to appropriate $191,622 from the undesignated, unreserved fund balance.

and

http://www.ci.greenacres.fl.us/agendas/06-16-08/C-1b Memo - 2008-22 MPSCC & 2008-15 800 MHz.pdf