Salams..

Check this out

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/43196

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US sets final emergency responder wireless pilot
Ambitious Multi-Band Radio project seeks to united first responder
community.

Looking to help eliminate the dangerous and inefficient hodgepodge of
communication and network technology used by emergency response personnel,
the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today said it had picked 14
groups from across the country to pilot an ambitious Multi-Band Radio
project.

In 2008, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate awarded a $6.2 million
contract to Thales Communications to demonstrate the first-ever portable
radio prototype that lets emergency responders-police, firefighters,
emergency medical personnel and others-communicate with partner agencies,
regardless of the radio band they operate on. This is the final pilot in a
three-part test, DHS said.

Currently radios only operate within a specific frequency band;
subsequently, responders are often unable to communicate with other agencies
and support units that operate in different radio frequencies. Comparable
in size and weight to existing portable radios with similar features,
multi-band radio would provide users with much-improved incident
communications capabilities, the DHS stated.

Thales Liberty multiband mobile radio received US Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) certification in April. The Liberty radio is made in the
U.S. and is the first multiband, software-defined LMR designed specifically
for government agencies and first responders, the company said.

The MBR prototype is capable of operating in the primary public safety bands
between 136-174 megahertz (MHz) and 380-520 MHz as well as in the 700 MHz
and 800 MHz bands. Additionally, when authorized, the MBR is capable of
operating on the Department of Defense bands in the 136-138 MHz and 380- 400
MHz ranges as well two Federal Government bands: 162-174 MHz and 406.1-420
MHz. This capability will for the first time let for Federal agencies
interoperate with local, tribal, regional, and state counterparts, the DHS
said. Carrying a price tag of $4,000-$6,000, the MBR is equal in form,
factor, and cost to existing high-end portable radios, the DHS said.

The 14 pilot organizations are:

-2010 Olympic Security Committee (Blaine, Wash., and Vancouver, B.C.
Canada)

-Amtrak (Northeast Corridor)

-Boise Fire Department (Boise, Idaho)

-Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (Ottawa, ON Canada)

-Customs and Border Patrol (Detroit)

-Federal Emergency Management Agency (Multiple Locations)

-Hawaii State Civil Defense (Honolulu)

-Interagency Communication Interoperability System (Los Angeles County,
Calif.)

-Michigan Emergency Medical Services (Lower Peninsula Areas)

-Murray State University (Southwest Kentucky)

-Phoenix Police Department and Arizona Department of Emergency --Management
Greater Phoenix and Yuma County)

-Texas National Guard (Austin, Texas)

-U.S. Marshals Service (Northeast Region)

-Washington Metro Area Transit Authority Transit Police (District of
Columbia)

Each agency will conduct a minimum 30-day pilot in fall 2009.


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Regards,

FahRoe Ibrahim
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