dailywireless.org » NY State’s Wireless Net Broken?

NY State’s Wireless Net Broken?

When’s the last time I was sick? Do you remember? — Unbreakable

Carol Ellison in MuniWireless says New York’s proposed state-wide public safety network has become the focus of controversy after first responders in Erie County found that a pilot operating in the county and the city of Buffalo did not meet their needs. This weekend a state legislator has called for a third-party investigation.

The $2 billion NY State emergency radio network failed its first major test, prompting concerns from some state officials and causing the state’s second largest city, Buffalo, to opt out of the system, reported the NY Times. But problems should be fixed by M/A-COM this April say state officials, when they will decide whether to proceed with the $2 billion project. The state-wide public service radio network would tie virtually all public safety workers together and is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

According to Rep. Timothy M. Kennedy, who called for the investigation, some emergency responders went so far as to declare the network “an absolute failure.”
In a guest editorial that ran Saturday in The Buffalo News, Kennedy said that “the concept of the network is admirable… I put my full faith in the City of Buffalo Police and Fire departments, Erie County Central Police Services, Erie County Fire Advisory Board, Erie County Sheriff’s Department and Erie County E-911 Committee to tell me what their equipment needs are. I trust their opinion.”
His comments came in response to guest columns printed earlier in the week from representatives of M/A Com, the contractor on the project, and the state Office for Technology.
Erie County’s decision to diminish its involvement in the project cannot be taken lightly. The project appears to be troubled by more than politics. It has received strong bi-partisan support. The statewide network was conceived under the Republican administration of former Gov. George Pataki and has continued to received strong support under current Gov. Eiott Spitzer.

A recent comptroller report indicating that local agencies in the state of New York could pay almost 800% more than anticipated to access the new state wireless network, or SWN, is based on several erroneous and unrealistic assumptions, said officials for the SWN project and network vendor M/A-COM.

The December 2006 report from the office of New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi projected that public-safety agencies in the state would pay $790 million — $490 million in financing costs — to buy radio equipment to access the $2 billion SWN network over the 20-year life of the contract with M/A-COM. The $790 million figure dwarfed the $100 million estimate provided by a M/A-COM official while the massive project was being bid.

New York’s Statewide Wireless Network was supposed to cover 95 percent of the state’s geographic area, and 97 percent of its roadways. The integrated statewide wireless radio network (pdf) was planned to provide a common communications platform for State public safety and public service agencies, and enhance interoperability.

New York’s ambitious effort utilized Project 25 two-way radios and tied them together via the internet. It was a model for other projects such as Oregon’s Statewide wireless system. Oregon’s 700 MHz network plan (pdf) for public safety users, for example, is estimated to cost $600-$700 million.

But interoperatibily of voice traffic is only part of the problem. Money has to be found to build the network and buy the radios. Critics said the whole idea was flawed. Not only are the P-25 radios too expensive ($3,500-$5,000), the 9.6Kbps data speed was too slow - it couldn’t effectively send photos or maps. A parallel broadband network would have to be built.

But if the NY State wireless network is flawed, perhaps that raises questions about the nation-wide federal IWN project for federal law enforcement agencies. MA/COM and Verizon have a piece of that action, too.

Other states seemed to be marching in lockstep to the P-25 interoperability template, which was drawn up ten years ago. But times and needs change.

That’s why Frontline’s radio plan seemed so refreshing — they’d build a nationwide, broadband network — free. Taxpayers wouldn’t get stuck with a multi-billion dollar bill for a dedicated radio system. And it would be a shared broadband service - like Nextel on steroids.

Maybe next time.

Meanwhile, Universal Service Fund money, some $4.5 billion, may come from three pots; about $3.2 billion, would go toward the Provider of Last Resort fund, that essentially perpetuates the existing wireline voice program, leaving $1 billion for mobility and $300 million for broadband. State public utility commissions distribute the money.

Rhonda Wickham of Wireless Week thinks the USF plan is Unfixable. “Let’s face it, landline carriers are steadily losing customers. But wireless carriers are offering cutting-edge voice and data capabilities to customers across the country – urban, suburban and rural customers alike. So how are the wireless carriers the bad guys here?”