[SMCARA] Fw: The County Times Re-Banding

[Larry E.Norris]

Larry E.Norris
St.Mary's Co. REACT
Unit-922
Kae-4617
N3JTN
Leonardtown,Md 
 

----- Original Message ----- 
From:Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 10:38 PM
Subject: The County Times Re-Banding


$1.5 Million Initiative

Moves Forward To Alleviate Emergency Radio Interference

By Adam Ross  Staff Writer   The County Times

A state funding boost will foster an emergency services upgrade of mapping software and radio re-banding, two unfunded initiatives from the St. Mary’s Board of County Commissioners 2008 budget.

The re-banding follows nearly four years of work between the county and the Federal Communications Commission to modify emergency service radios to minimize harmful public interference to safety communications.

Interference largely comes from commercial operations, including mobile phones. By shifting radio frequencies from the upper to the lower end of 800 megahertz, the county can greatly reduce the amount of interference to its emergency radio operations. But the initiative comes with a cost, and has been ongoing for years.

“It’s a lot of technical rebuilding of infrastructure,” said David Zylak, director of Public Safety. “We are waiting ‘till our neighbors [Charles and Calvert counties] go to a full rebanding to follow.”

Once Charles and Calvert counties complete the re-banding, St. Mary’s will follow suit for what Zylak deemed “a seamless transition.”

Charles and Calvert are currently working towards receiving planning money for the re-banding, while St. Mary’s skipped the planning stage and went directly into the configuration stage of the process.

“Nextel is in the process of getting signatures to make sure everyone is progressing towards the final goal,” Zylak said.

Funded in full by Nextel Communications, the re-banding will likely cost $1.5 million, according to Elaine Kramer, the county’s chief financial officer. The county currently has $750,000 already set aside in its budget.



A-5