Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:18 pm
This is a bit of a long post as I have found some information on both the old Tetra system and the new WA Police Trunked system to be installed.
First up the Tetra system. My nderstanding is that two major things happened. I'm not sure of the order of events though. One event was the Police discovered (after spending a few million) that the system wasn't going to work for them and couldn't provide the services they wanted. As a result they had some balls and made a statement to the effect of they had spent a lot of money but they had realised early in the piece that the system wasn't going to live up to their needs and they decided to ditch it before it was too late. The other thing that happened was Simoco Australia wentbottoms up and pulled out. I'm unsure if this happened as a result of the Police contract, or if it happened before hand.
Below are some details of the Tetra story.
2.1 Simoco was contracted to supply a government department with a turnkey state of the art digital trunked radio network in 2002. The system comprised a 23 site TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio ) high availability Network , microwave transmission network, Network management system, site power supply and battery systems and relocatable site shelters, complete site antenna networks with diplexing/mulicoupling and an initial quantity of TETRA handheld and mobile terminal units. Prior to the company entering liquidation all items of equipment were assembled in Perth having completed manufacturers component factory testing, rack /cabinet assembly and testing and preliminary site configuration testing and were ready for field deployment. Only 2 sites of equipment and some radio terminals were deployed for field trialing, the balance of items have been stored in a warehouse awaiting deployment. Warehouse conditions were suitable for this type of equipment.
2.2 The Tetra Network and mobile terminals were supplied from the European operations of Simoco Digitals Systems, all other items were sourced from external third party manufacturers.
3. Summary Of Equipment and Assets
3.1 The extensive list of items fall into the following categories:
-Indoor and Outdoor Microwave and Multiplex Equipment
-Microwave and UHF Antenna Networks
-Multisite/Multichannel Tetra Digital Trunked Base Station Network
-Cisco Routers
-Computer Equipment
-Tetra Mobile and Portable Terminals
-High Spec Power Supplies and Battery Chargers
-Equipment Cabinets and Rack Assemblies
-Airconditioned Transportable Equipment Shelters
I actually have the full list (in an excel file) of all the Tetra equipment that was sold off at the end of the mishap.
Onto the new Motorola APCO 25 system. below is Motorola's press release for the new WA Police system. It will be an Astro trunked system (9600 bps) which can be tracked by any of the newest digital scanners on the market including the new Australian model about to be released. They have mentioned secure communications, and they have mentioned encryption for important communications. It really depends what take they have on Important but my guess will be a magivc bag might be produced before the end of the project filled up with lots more encryption boards to bring the WA Police in line with all the other Police Forces lead towards encryption. They also mentioned the word terrorism which is a big encryption spinner, and the fact the new radios will operate on the old analogue network so the band plan probably is going to be the same or rather close to the new system. At this stage while the system will cover 9000 square KM's it appears to only be being built for the WA Police and not the other services. It makes mention the WA Police will be able to liase with other agencies (outside of the trunked network).
Depending on the size and capacity and room for expansion of the network, I think it would make sense for the WA Government to look at taking over the network in years to come and slowly expanding the network and migrating more and more agencies onto it. This truly would provide interoperablity. The only hassle being that everyone would then need to migrate to UHF. Something that is not good for every agency.
I'm rambling again. Here's the article.
Western Australian Police Sign US$28 Million Contract with Motorola for ASTRO® 25 Digital Radio Network
PERTH, Western Australia, 28 June 2005 - Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) announced today that the Western Australian Police has selected a Motorola ASTRO® 25 digital trunked radio network to bring its communications into the 21st century.
WA Police has signed a $28 million contract with Motorola for the network, which will cover more than 30 sites. The contract also includes the supply portable, mobile and fixed ASTRO® 25 digital radio terminals and MW850 mobile computing devices.
Western Australia Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said the network, to be operational for front line police operations by early 2007, would deliver secure, effective voice radio and mobile data communications, expanding voice radio coverage to 9000 square kilometers.
The network will be seamlessly integrated with a Motorola Premier CADTM (Computer Aided Dispatch) system which was installed for the WA Police in 2004. The mobile computing devices will enable police vehicles to be seamlessly connected to Motorola’s messaging switch, providing computer dispatch, data base enquiry and automatic vehicle location services.
“The new mobile data facility and automatic vehicle location server will enable police to be dispatched more effectively to incidents and emergencies while important radio communications will be encrypted to help prevent interception by organised crime or disruption by terrorists,” Mr. O’Callaghan said.
The Motorola network will provide:
* Improved radio coverage to the broader Perth metropolitan area
* Relief from radio frequency congestion via the combination of increased capacity and private trunked networking, allowing for more users, more calls, and more information to be transferred
* Increased security with leading-edge encryption algorithms to keep voice and data transmissions confidential
* Significantly greater reliability and availability due the Motorola’s IP network technology
* Interoperability with other Project 25 and Police networks, so the WA Police can communicate with other WA Government departments, Federal Policing agencies and other State Police forces as required:
* Compliance with a key global standard for public safety communications (APCO Project 25) which in turn supports backward compatibility
* Simplified transition as the new radios will be able to operate on the existing analogue network during the construction phase
Spiros Nikolakopoulos, Managing Director, Government and Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Australia & New Zealand, who signed the contract on behalf of Motorola, said the project would further build on Motorola’s 20-year relationship with the WA Police, greatly enhancing front line policing capabilities for the force.
Regards,
First up the Tetra system. My nderstanding is that two major things happened. I'm not sure of the order of events though. One event was the Police discovered (after spending a few million) that the system wasn't going to work for them and couldn't provide the services they wanted. As a result they had some balls and made a statement to the effect of they had spent a lot of money but they had realised early in the piece that the system wasn't going to live up to their needs and they decided to ditch it before it was too late. The other thing that happened was Simoco Australia wentbottoms up and pulled out. I'm unsure if this happened as a result of the Police contract, or if it happened before hand.
Below are some details of the Tetra story.
2.1 Simoco was contracted to supply a government department with a turnkey state of the art digital trunked radio network in 2002. The system comprised a 23 site TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio ) high availability Network , microwave transmission network, Network management system, site power supply and battery systems and relocatable site shelters, complete site antenna networks with diplexing/mulicoupling and an initial quantity of TETRA handheld and mobile terminal units. Prior to the company entering liquidation all items of equipment were assembled in Perth having completed manufacturers component factory testing, rack /cabinet assembly and testing and preliminary site configuration testing and were ready for field deployment. Only 2 sites of equipment and some radio terminals were deployed for field trialing, the balance of items have been stored in a warehouse awaiting deployment. Warehouse conditions were suitable for this type of equipment.
2.2 The Tetra Network and mobile terminals were supplied from the European operations of Simoco Digitals Systems, all other items were sourced from external third party manufacturers.
3. Summary Of Equipment and Assets
3.1 The extensive list of items fall into the following categories:
-Indoor and Outdoor Microwave and Multiplex Equipment
-Microwave and UHF Antenna Networks
-Multisite/Multichannel Tetra Digital Trunked Base Station Network
-Cisco Routers
-Computer Equipment
-Tetra Mobile and Portable Terminals
-High Spec Power Supplies and Battery Chargers
-Equipment Cabinets and Rack Assemblies
-Airconditioned Transportable Equipment Shelters
I actually have the full list (in an excel file) of all the Tetra equipment that was sold off at the end of the mishap.
Onto the new Motorola APCO 25 system. below is Motorola's press release for the new WA Police system. It will be an Astro trunked system (9600 bps) which can be tracked by any of the newest digital scanners on the market including the new Australian model about to be released. They have mentioned secure communications, and they have mentioned encryption for important communications. It really depends what take they have on Important but my guess will be a magivc bag might be produced before the end of the project filled up with lots more encryption boards to bring the WA Police in line with all the other Police Forces lead towards encryption. They also mentioned the word terrorism which is a big encryption spinner, and the fact the new radios will operate on the old analogue network so the band plan probably is going to be the same or rather close to the new system. At this stage while the system will cover 9000 square KM's it appears to only be being built for the WA Police and not the other services. It makes mention the WA Police will be able to liase with other agencies (outside of the trunked network).
Depending on the size and capacity and room for expansion of the network, I think it would make sense for the WA Government to look at taking over the network in years to come and slowly expanding the network and migrating more and more agencies onto it. This truly would provide interoperablity. The only hassle being that everyone would then need to migrate to UHF. Something that is not good for every agency.
I'm rambling again. Here's the article.
Western Australian Police Sign US$28 Million Contract with Motorola for ASTRO® 25 Digital Radio Network
PERTH, Western Australia, 28 June 2005 - Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) announced today that the Western Australian Police has selected a Motorola ASTRO® 25 digital trunked radio network to bring its communications into the 21st century.
WA Police has signed a $28 million contract with Motorola for the network, which will cover more than 30 sites. The contract also includes the supply portable, mobile and fixed ASTRO® 25 digital radio terminals and MW850 mobile computing devices.
Western Australia Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said the network, to be operational for front line police operations by early 2007, would deliver secure, effective voice radio and mobile data communications, expanding voice radio coverage to 9000 square kilometers.
The network will be seamlessly integrated with a Motorola Premier CADTM (Computer Aided Dispatch) system which was installed for the WA Police in 2004. The mobile computing devices will enable police vehicles to be seamlessly connected to Motorola’s messaging switch, providing computer dispatch, data base enquiry and automatic vehicle location services.
“The new mobile data facility and automatic vehicle location server will enable police to be dispatched more effectively to incidents and emergencies while important radio communications will be encrypted to help prevent interception by organised crime or disruption by terrorists,” Mr. O’Callaghan said.
The Motorola network will provide:
* Improved radio coverage to the broader Perth metropolitan area
* Relief from radio frequency congestion via the combination of increased capacity and private trunked networking, allowing for more users, more calls, and more information to be transferred
* Increased security with leading-edge encryption algorithms to keep voice and data transmissions confidential
* Significantly greater reliability and availability due the Motorola’s IP network technology
* Interoperability with other Project 25 and Police networks, so the WA Police can communicate with other WA Government departments, Federal Policing agencies and other State Police forces as required:
* Compliance with a key global standard for public safety communications (APCO Project 25) which in turn supports backward compatibility
* Simplified transition as the new radios will be able to operate on the existing analogue network during the construction phase
Spiros Nikolakopoulos, Managing Director, Government and Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Australia & New Zealand, who signed the contract on behalf of Motorola, said the project would further build on Motorola’s 20-year relationship with the WA Police, greatly enhancing front line policing capabilities for the force.
Regards,