The Federal Agenda: Homeland defense looks to wireless

Moments after American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, emergency workers from around Arlington, Va., were on the scene. Thanks to a mutual aid agreement, fire, police and emergency medical personnel, the so-called first responders, could communicate via handheld radios and other devices over a trunked 800-MHz radio system.

But as the scope of the disaster became apparent and reinforcements from state and federal agencies arrived on the scene, interoperability problems arose because these agencies operated on different frequencies, and communications couldn't pass from one system to another.

"9/11 has become an opportunity for people to understand how important things like integrated technology really are," says Sean Kirkendall, director of public affairs at PSComm, a consultancy focusing on public-sector technologies.

The problem is not new. Emergency workers faced interoperability woes at the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine High School shootings and other disasters.

But in the aftermath of Sept. 11, there is more muscle and more money directed at the problem. In fact, the need to deploy a more efficient communications infrastructure among first responders nationwide has become a federal priority.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is slated to get about $3.5 billion in the proposed 2003 budget to help state and local governments better equip themselves against terrorist attacks. Much of that money will be doled out in grants to help those agencies set up secure and interoperable communications systems.

That's a task being headed by FEMA CIO Ron Miller, who has been meeting with state and local government officials and industry members as he fashions criteria, standards and guidelines to use when granting funds for communications projects. No specific technologies have been settled on yet, but Miller says he hopes to have guidelines in place by year-end.

Pennsylvania agencies standardize on 800 MHz

"We think it would be a mistake to settle on a specific technology right now because we haven't evaluated all the solutions," he says. "In the best of all possible worlds, everybody would have compatible radios, and networks would be integrated. But that's not the way the world is right now."

First step is bridging

Miller says FEMA initially wants to use bridging technologies to help agencies integrate disparate networks. As Mike Worthington, general manager of Safety and Security Solutions at Motorola, says, "Right now, we think there are $40 billion to $50 billion worth of radio networks that have been installed that just cannot be thrown away overnight."

PSComm says FEMA is taking the right approach by advocating bridging as an initial response. "There are technologies being used right now that allow for patching that can be implemented very quickly and cheaper than an 800-MHz build-up or something along those lines," Kirkendall says.

John Cohen, president and CEO of PSComm, points to a project underway in Maryland, where state police communications centers are being linked by an ACU-1000 radio interconnect device manufactured by JPS Communications. The ACU-1000 can interconnect disparate systems including high-frequency radios, land mobile radios on various frequencies, cellular, wireline and satellite communications.

Other areas FEMA should look at are helping agencies set up wireless data networks and providing the middleware so responders on the scene can link into legacy data information, Cohen says. Miller says other technologies he's looking at include satellite networks, allocating spectrum for public safety emergencies and setting up priority access on public cellular networks.

When it comes to purchasing new equipment, Miller says FEMA will issue standards that give agencies flexibility when it comes to the type � and price � of communications systems they must deploy.

"The guidelines will not mandate a specific manufacturer's solution, but it will set parameters under which manufacturers can build systems . . . as long as they have the capability on the public safety side to interoperate," he says. "That way [government agencies] can choose based on price, flexibility, features or whatever else they need."

Vendors seem to agree. For example, Motorola and Symbol Technologies say they are committed to open standards. Motorola manufactures radio systems that comply with standards developed by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials that let disparate radio systems communicate.

States take the lead

In the meantime, states and local agencies haven't been idle. Many states began overhaul projects long before Sept. 11.

In 1998, the deadliest tornado in South Dakota's history hit the small town of Spencer, about 45 miles west of Sioux Falls. At that time, South Dakota emergency agencies were operating with a hodgepodge of radio systems.

"The governor was one of the first to arrive on the scene, and as [emergency personnel] came from 50, 60, 80 miles away, from every direction, what he saw was nobody could talk with anybody," says Otto Doll, commissioner of the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications in South Dakota.

The trouble was the agencies were all operating on different frequencies. "People were coming in with lowband 39 MHz, 800 MHz, 150 MHz, 450 MHz. Some of them were analog. And heaven help you if you wanted to send any data," Doll says.

After that, South Dakota Gov. William Janklow made it a priority to set up an interoperable communications system for all agencies within the state. South Dakota is now in the process of transitioning to a 150-MHz digital trunked network, Doll says.

He says he's hoping to get money from FEMA to help expand the program. He's also encouraging neighboring states to adopt the same frequency so that interoperability can cross state lines.

But it's no easy task. Any net manager knows the challenge in unifying communications among legacy departments or bringing systems into compatibility after a merger. Imagine doing that for hundreds, maybe thousands, of disparate systems.

Ray Bjorklund, vice president of consulting services at Federal Sources, a market intelligence firm focusing on public-sector IT, says bluntly: "Ron's [Miller] got his work cut out for him."

Network World Events Editor Sandra Gittlen contributed to this story.

Contact Senior Writer Jennifer Mears

Homeland defense looks to wireless

First step is bridging

States take the lead

Related Links