The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) research branch this week completed its final series of operational pilot tests of radios that can operate on multiple bands to thus allow first responders to communicate across agencies and jurisdictions with a single radio.
The Multi-Band Radio (MBR) pilot began in 2009 and involved a number of local, state and federal partners involved in emergency response, shows that the technology works.
For the most part currently, handheld emergency response radios operate on a single band, which means first responders can’t communicate across agencies and jurisdictions, thereby necessitating the need to carry multiple radios or share them.
“Today, many state, local and federal emergency responders face communications interoperability challenges that could put lives at risk,” David Boyd, director of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, said in a statement. “Thanks to the participation and insights of our state, local and federal pilot partners, S&T’s new multi-band radio allows responders to communicate with other responding agencies and jurisdictions, regardless of radio band.”
DHS said that its MBR initiative helped spark industry development of the new radio technology that is now commercially available. For the latest series of pilot tests, which were used by various agencies involved in public safety, including the Coast Guard in Miami, the Chicago Police Department, and the Boise, Idaho, Fire Department, MBR radios were supplied by Harris Corp. [HRS] and France’s Thales.
Harris has already sold more than 20,000 multi-band radios.
S&T hopes to complete a final report on its MBR project later this year and also plans to issue a procurement guide that will be designed to help public safety agencies analyze the various features and options to determine the capabilities they need for their specific jurisdiction. A spokesman for the directorate also told Defense Daily that with the conclusion of the pilot project public safety agencies across the country are now in a better position to begin acquiring the MBR technology.
In addition to being able to operate across multiple, non-contiguous bands, the MBR radios when authorized can operate in the Defense Department bands and two federal bands.
With the pilot project complete S&T transitioned more than 100 radios with the newest multi-band technologies to the 15 participating agencies.