(Archived Content)
The LMR units purchased by the government include portable and mobile radios, portable repeaters and base stations, encryption key loaders and ancillary support accessories. The new Project 25 digital technology was specifically designed to improve communications interoperability among different government agencies and will greatly enhance coordination and cooperation among many different branches of law enforcement including ATF, the Customs Service, the Secret Service, INS, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and DEA.
Open lines of communication are vital to tapping into all of the government’s resources when investigating illegal activity and protecting the homeland, said Treasury Under Secretary for Enforcement Jimmy Gurulé. Today’s contract is another step toward increased cooperation and communication between law enforcement components.
Technical Information: After receiving and evaluating proposals from leading industry suppliers of Project 25 compliant LMR equipment multiple awards of Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity contracts with a combined ceiling amount of $3 billion over a five year contract life cycle were made to Daniels Electronics LTD (Victoria, British Columbia), Datron World Communications (Vista, California), E.F Johnson Company (Waseca, Minnesota), M/A Com Private Radio Systems (Lynchburg, Virginia), Motorola (Hanover, Maryland), and Thales Communication Incorporated (Clarksburg, Maryland). The Project 25 Standards activity has been a partnership between Public Safety Users at all levels of Government and industry to develop standards, based on user needs, for two-way radio equipment operating at very high frequencies (VHF) and ultra high frequencies (UHF), including the 800 MHz band. These standards have been adopted by numerous Federal and State agencies in the procurement of radio equipment.
The utilization of the standards based open architecture provided by Project 25 will foster competition among manufacturers of LMR equipment and systems which should provide additional cost effective solutions to both Treasury and Justice, as well as other government agencies that utilize this contract vehicle.