Bucks County Fire Chief’s and Firefighters Association

1. Bucks County Fire Chief’s and Firefighters Association Radio Upgrade Adam Selisker Chairman Fire Communications Advisory Board June 21, 2010

2. Why Replace the System? • FCC Has Mandated All Radio Systems Operating In The VHF And UHF Frequency Bands Must Operate In A Narrow Bandwidth Mode, Not To Exceed 12.5 KHz. • Applies To Bucks • Operates 500–512 MHz Uhf Trunked Radio System • Must Be Completed By December 31, 2012 • Why now?. • Controllers (6809) Are No Longer Available. • Cannot Be Modified By Motorola • Repeaters Are End Of Production In 2011 • Motorola Software And Tech Support Have Ended for current system. • XTS-3000 Radios Cannot Be Upgraded To Project 25 Trunking

3. What will be replaced? • Current 500 MHz Voice System • Current VHF Paging System (County infrastructure only, not pagers) • Mobile Data System • Each of these systems is independent.

4. Voice Radio System • There are approximately 5000 radios in use in the County system; 41% Fire, 40% Police, 10% County, 9% EMS. • The consultant (Kimball) recommends the County purchase and install a 700 MHz P25 Phase 2 compatible system. The P25 system will allow for multiple vendors of equipment and the ability to criss-cross systems with neighboring counties. The system will also contain a private and separate broadband LTE Bucks County internet access system that will allow access to both internal and external sites. This could replace the use of commercial air cards for access. Also, upgrade VHF paging system. • According to the Kimball report cost of the system is about $65M; $40M in infrastructure and $27M for agency equipment (mobiles and portables). The cost of each mobile/portable will be between $5500 and $7500. This may be lower as this pricing includes options that the Fire Service will probably not use, however for budgeting; this is the range as of today.

5. 500 MHz vs. 700 MHzSafety Concerns • Years of operating a county wide system on 500 MHz, gives us an advantage of knowing what the present system coverage is, and where the “dead spots” are.  Moving to a new 700 MHz system will require reengineering do to hardware and frequency changes. Any new system dead spots would need to be located by means of drive testing and using the system. Until the problem areas are located and a fix implemented we would be operating in a coverage limited system. • There are inherent limitations between 500 MHz and 700 MHz frequencies that need to be considered in a system wide change. Higher frequencies suffer from reduce coverage and are more susceptible to signal degradation from foliage.

6. 500 MHz vs. 700 MHzCost Considerations • Additional tower costs may be incurred by changing from 500 MHz to 700 MHz. New or additional towers may need to be established in order to compensate for the reduced coverage that would come with higher frequencies. Delays in acquiring leases and possible construction of towers need to be factored in. If major delays are encountered, we may have to use a partial system by the FCC deadline of 2013 .  • Several large commercial buildings have 500 MHz BDA’s (in building antenna systems) already in place to permit indoor coverage to public safety. These systems would need to be replaced or modified at a large cost if public safety moves to a 700 MHz system. Two of these larger systems are Bristol Township PD Headquarters and Doylestown Hospital’s new emergency room.

7. 500 MHz vs. 700MHzCost Considerations • According to the County Consultant, 15% of the current radios could be re-used in a new 500 MHz system • 5000 radios X 15%= 750 still usable radios • 750 X $5500 = $4.1M • Additionally, Fire Companies have purchased “off county” radios for Fireground communications. So far we have identified 549 radios at $1000 each = $549,000.00 Still need additional information from many companies.

8. Interference Concerns • The County consultant has identified possible interference on 500 MHz. • FCAB Technical Staff disagrees. • Interference may occur on 500 or 700. No guarantees either way • We have used these frequencies successfully for years.

9. Licensing 700 MHz • The County has applied for 13 frequencies in the 700 MHz range. • No guarantee that they will be assigned to the county. Others have applied also. • We already have 500 MHz licenses

10. Tower Sites • The current system uses 19 tower sites to manage the 500 MHz system. • A new 700 MHz system will need some additional sites not yet identified. Not all of the current 19 will work.

11. VHF Paging System • Maintains Current Nine Site Configuration • Add Alphanumeric Capability • CAD Interface For Immediate Alerting • Local User Paging Access Through LAN/Dial-up • Less Expensive, Multiple Address Pagers • Alphanumeric will be a separate frequency from voice paging. • Add Simulcast Capability • Better Coverage • No Zoned Pages

12. Mobile Data System Upgrade • Update To 4th Generation System • LTE (Long Term Evolution) Technology • Uses 700 MHz Spectrum Licensed To PSST • Part Of Regional/National System With Nationwide Roaming • Dedicated Public Safety System • No Monthly Cellular Carrier Fees.

13. L.R. Kimball • County consultant. (show Kimball presentation here) • Provided a presentation to FCAB on 6/14/2010.

14. Recommendation • The Bucks County Fire Communications Advisory Board voted unanimously on June 14, 2010 to recommend the following: • Bucks County Dept of Communications should develop and implement a system that uses the current 500 MHz frequencies for voice communications. Additionally, the County should upgrade the VHF paging system as presented and the Mobile Data System as presented in the 700 MHz range.

15. What’s Next • Finalize radio count • Work with local officials both elected and appointed. The fire service needs to present the significant cost impact of going to 700 MHz vs. staying at 500MHz. Remember, no compelling argument has been presented to change to 700 MHz.