TRI-BOROUGH INTEROPERABILITY FOCUS PROJECT

Matanuska Susitna Borough, Municipality of Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula Borough

AREA OF FOCUS: South Central Alaska

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

DESCRIPTION

The Tri Borough area of South Central Alaska is seeking the approval and necessary funding to construct a Project 25, Standards Based multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency, multi-band shared use trunk radio system to further demonstrate enhanced interoperable communications capabilities between local, state, Department of Defense (DOD) military organizations and non-DOD federal agencies within the Tri Borough region. The Project 25 network will provide a single open architecture platform for Public Safety first responders for day-to-day operations and interoperability between multi-agencies during large-scale emergency activities. This system will be merged to the statewide system known as the Alaska Land Mobile Radio (ALMR). The training, experience and lessons learned from the ALMR Concept Demonstration Plan completed earlier this year, has provided the information required to successfully build the system in other areas of the state.

Communications is an important aspect of Homeland Defense and land mobile radio systems are an essential component in providing effective, coordinated response to all types of incidents from structure fires and multi-vehicle accidents to wildfires and earthquakes as well as task force security operations. In Alaska today, most all of our public safety community, at all levels of government, use a wide variety of aged, non-secure, and to some degree, incompatible radio communication systems, which are the primary means of supporting day to day, mutual aid and large scale missions. Many of these systems have been implemented independently, uses different manufacturers proprietary technology and different portions of the radio frequency spectrum. The result is an inability to communicate with one another when needed.

FUNDING REQUEST

The Tri Borough Interoperability Focus Project through its partnerships and willingness to work together towards a common goal seeks funding in the amount of $23.50M over a period of two years (FY '05 and FY '06). The requested funds will be used based on each of the Borough's needs:

BOROUGH FY '05 FY '06 TOTAL REQUEST

Matanuska Susitna $3.200M $1.600M $ 4.80M

Municipality of Anchorage $6.375M $6.125M $12.50M

Kenai Peninsula Borough $3.900M $2.300M $ 6.20M

Tri Borough TOTALS $13.425M $10.075M $23.500M

The funding, if granted, will provide for communication site upgrades and digital microwave connectivity between the three Boroughs and ALMR, build out of 30 radio repeater sites throughout the region, complete Dispatch Center upgrades and additions in the Kenai Peninsula Borough and procure the necessary number of Project 25 compatible mobile, portable and control station radios for all local governments within the Tri Borough, South Central Alaska region for true, seamless communications interoperability.

IF NOT FUNDED

The Tri Borough area will continue daily operations, mutual aid responses and task force missions with equipment that has limited capabilities, incompatibility problems and in many cases no longer supported by the original manufacturer. Agencies will continue to seek other grant opportunities, however, most grants that are available are too restrictive in allowing for planned migration over time and usually do not offer adequate funding to purchase the costly radio site infrastructure. The reality of not being funded is a continuation of fragmented systems, loss of collaboration between agencies that must seek other funding initiatives, as they will be in competition with one another for the same funding opportunity. This causes a breakdown in forming partnerships for the "cooperative" good of all. With less opportunities and limited incentive to plan together, the Tri Borough, South Central Alaska area will most likely witness another round of incompatible system purchases that meets an immediate need with little or no regard to area-wide and intra-agency interoperability. Lastly, continued fragmented funding to the Tri Borough agencies will limit, postpone and prolong ALMR build out in the Tri Borough area and local government efforts to migrate to the interoperable, standards based system that ALMR is attempting to complete