A group of 88 Los Angeles (Calif.) area public safety agencies has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to build and maintain what some believe will be the largest public safety radio network in the world, and which will allow individual agencies to purchase radio gear from any company. The Los Angeles Regional Interoperability Communications System (LA-RICS) expects the system to cost $600 million over five years, and a final contract could be awarded by December. The radio system bid will be awarded to a single vendor or group, but agency radios may be purchased from any qualified company. The open purchase plan is expected to reduce costs for participating agencies, since they won’t be locked in to a single radio vendor either immediately or over time. Download (.zip) the package of bid documents here, and read more about the potential cost savings here. Surf the LA-RICS Web site for more information.
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Largest PS Network? I think not.
They claim potentially 34,000 users. The Michigan Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) currently is ACTIVELY serving over 50,000 users and is still growing. It covers the State of Michigan, an area of about 57,000 square miles. Running out of ID’s has slowed the MPSCS system growth momentarily until the system can be upgraded to allow about 120,000 id’s. Oh, and yes, there are radios on the system from all the Astro compatible digital trunking radio manufacturers.
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