Justice, public safety and homeland security October review

Deltek Analyst Kristin Howe reports.

The homeland security and justice and public safety markets had many familiar trends in October, with next generation 911 (NG911) projects taking a large portion of state and local spending. The other major player was narrowband radio systems, which will likely continue to have a strong presence until the FCC’s narrowbanding deadline on January 1, 2013.

The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) made its mark in October as the first transit agency in the country to move to a P25-compliant radio system. The RTD decided to make the move to the Colorado Statewide Digital Trunked Radio System (DTRS) by awarding a contract to Motorola. In Hawaii, the county of Maui also focused on improving its radio system as it released a request for proposals (RFP) for a radio system upgrade. This project includes the replacement of electronic components at 12 transmitter sites, the addition of seven additional microwave radio links, four new transmitter locations in Maui, and one in Lanai.

Next generation 911 systems have been heating up for the last few months. Tennessee announced that it has completed the first phase of its NG911 project and is ready to move on to testing the system with select departments and begin connecting the local PSAPs to the core center. New Jersey released a request for information (RFI) in October for a statewide NG911 system, and counties all over the country have begun planning their own systems. Many smaller localities are joining together and purchasing one system to share across a region due to the high cost. As Deltek Analyst Evan Halperin mentioned in his recent blog, Congress is beginning to take steps to provide federal funding for localities in need of an NG911 system, but lack proper funds to cover the cost.

For the complete blog, go here.