After
attending the 2012 AFG workshop, reviewing all available guidance material plus
numerous phone conversations with DHS, my perception of the governance
applicable to the 2012 AFG program is as follows:
Grant
application period opens June 11, 2012 and closes on July 6, 2012.
Communications
applications will be based on standards based equipment. By definition, I read this to mean analog or
P25 digital, nothing else including MotoTRBO or NEXEDGE which are NOT standards
based technologies.
Applicants
may apply for non-P25 digital equipment if compelling reasons are clearly
stated which outline the need for this action.
If approved, the applicant is responsible for updating to P25 if and
when directed to do so by FEMA at the APPLICANTS expense. This provision also applies to applications
approved in the 2010 and 2011 grant application periods.
Any
equipment acquired with FEMA funds under the AFG program must be
non-proprietary. This means than any
digital trunked repeater system using centralized control must be open to
multiple vendors. This means ONLY P25
digital or LTR analog trunking meets
the requirements for open architecture.
Environmental
and historical preservation requirements as well as FCC frequency planning
should be done BEFORE grant approval.
All
applications must be in compliance with the applicable Statewide Communications
Interoperability Plan (SCIP) subject to review by the designated Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) Point of Contact (POC) for your State.
All
radios purchased should have sufficient channel capacity to include programming
of interoperable frequencies as defined by the applicable State
Interoperability Field Operations Guide.
In Alabama, these frequencies are listed on pages 32 through 85 of the ALA-FOG.
Applicants
considering the use of a trunked digital P25 radio system should be aware of
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements for shared channel use
of analog and digital systems. In the
case of MotoTRBO VHF systems, power emissions are limited to no more than 10
watts Effective Radiated Power (ERP) and digital data (GPS, Messaging, etc.)
are not authorized. For both VHF and
UHF, analog voice communications have priority over data. Every effort should be made to acquire FB8
channels for ANY digital trunked radio system BEFORE applying for a grant based
on digital trunking technology.
