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The State of Michigan has just implemented one of the most advanced and
reliable public safety two-way radio communications systems in the nation.
Michigan’s Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) utilizes state-of-the
art 800 MHz trunked digital technology that allows member agencies to
communicate statewide. The 181-tower site infrastructure has been designed to
provide 97% all weather mobile radio coverage across every region of the state.
The completion of this project is truly significant as subscriber agencies now
have radio communications interoperability across all 96,810 square miles of the
state, from the Ohio border to Michigan’s most northern tip of the Keweenaw
Peninsula.
The implementation process of MPSCS began nearly two decades ago. In 1984,
the Michigan Department of State Police formed a committee to evaluate its
crumbling two-way radio system that had been in operation since the 1940s. The
committee consisted of several state departments including State Police, Natural
Resources, Transportation, Management and Budget, Military Affairs and
representatives of the state House and Senate Fiscal Agencies. It was determined
that the new terrestrial radio system would not only serve the Michigan State
Police, but also would be opened to include all local, state and federal local
public safety agencies in Michigan. In 1992, after several years of completing
various system design plans and cost studies, specifications for a request for
proposal were finalized and sent to potential vendors.
In June 1994, the Michigan Legislature overwhelmingly approved approximately
$187 million dollars to fund the new system, awarding Motorola with the largest
single-vendor contract in the State of Michigan’s history. The state was
divided into four geographical areas (four phases) due to the magnitude of the
project.
In September 1995, the state broke ground on Phase One construction. Phase
One was built to APCO 16 standards and encompassed all of southeast Michigan,
including the Detroit, Jackson and Lansing areas. The phase was officially
completed in 1997. In 1998, Phase Two, which included all of southwest lower
Michigan, was brought online to the new APCO 25 standard. Phase One was also
upgraded to the APCO 25 standard. The completion of Phase Three followed in 2000
and consisted of the northern Lower Peninsula. Phase Four, the entire Upper
Peninsula, was competed and brought online in November 2002.
On November 6, 2001, the State Administrative Board approved $20.3 million
dollars to modify the contract between the State of Michigan and Motorola. This
allowed for an upgrade from the current Motorola ASTRO® 5.0 Platform to
Motorola’s latest two-way radio platform – ASTRO® 6.0 IP Voice System.
Phase Four (Upper Peninsula) was brought online on the 6.0 platform. In November
2002, the entire infrastructure in the Lower Peninsula was upgraded to the 6.0
platform creating a true statewide communications system. Some of the more
visible benefits of the upgrade included increased user capacity to 64,000 user
IDs, 16,000 talk groups and simulcast capabilities at local sites added to the
state infrastructure.
MPSCS is recognized internationally as one of the most technologically
advanced two-way radio systems. It is capable of meeting both the current and
future communications needs of Michigan’s public safety community. Recent
visitors to view the statewide system include representatives from the State of
Montana and the Dutch, German, and Mexican governments.
MPSCS has provided support to recent Michigan public safety operations such
as the 2002 Republican Governor’s Conference, the Detroit G-8 Conference, the
Gogebic County Flood, the Houghton County Communications Outage, the Marquette
County Flood Disaster and the Presidential Visit to Dearborn. MPSCS also
provides statewide support in routine public safety operations such as fugitive
pursuits, searches for lost individuals and other multi-agency critical events.
Today the MPSCS has more than 235 local, state and federal public safety
agencies with 10,400 radios on the system. Many local and county agencies are
currently considering joining the MPSCS. Based on public safety interest, it is
anticipated that the system will host over 14,000 public safety radios by the
end of next year.
Public safety radio spectrum is a finite resource. In an emergency, it is
vital for public safety personnel to have clear channels available immediately.
Without spectrum public safety radio communications is impossible. Dense urban
areas consisting of many political subdivisions create significant demands on
available spectrum. No two adjacent independent communications systems can use
the same frequencies. Efficient channel spacing and frequency reuse allow for
maximum use of limited spectrum; however, only so much is available. In
addition, public safety faces interference from other public safety
communications systems and commercial communications systems. Adding additional
features to public safety radio communications such as mobile data, still images
(mug shots), and live feed video requires additional spectrum to operate.
The FCC is in the process of making available 24 MHz of the 700 MHz frequency
band to all public safety nationwide. However, its availability for public
safety use in Michigan and other states is contingent on the fact that
commercial broadcasters have the right to continue using this band until
December 31, 2006 or longer. Equipment manufacturers see little incentive to
manufacture equipment capable of operating within this frequency range without
this spectrum being available.
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