NY State Auditor: Ready to Pull the Plug

The New York state auditor has concluded that M/A-COMM should not move forward with a $2 billion, state-wide public safety radio system unless all the problems are “fully resolved and all contract requirements are met.” Today auditor Thomas DiNapoli released two audits of the first phases of the system installation, which uses M/A-COMM’s proprietary 800 MHz trunked technology. In a press release, DiNapoli said one audit found the project is over 18 months behind schedule, and “numerous operational deficiences,” including tower hand-off problems, interference and dead spots. The other audio concluded that Erie County could spend almost $30 million less “by scaling back its participation in SWN and building its own radio network” using 400 MHz technology. The radio contract has been under fire since poor test results from Erie and Chautauqua Counties, the first build-out locations, were released earlier this year. DiNapoli has ordered a third round of testing, after which he’ll make an accept-or-reject decision on the contract. He added that the state isn’t obligated to pay M/A-COMM any money until acceptance, and can bail out after Phase I without any payments at all if the contract is unfulfilled. M/A-COMM disputes the state’s payment interpretation of the contract. Surf here for the press release and links to the full audits [or download pdf directly: audit #1 / #2]