Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel & Public Safety

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 15:02:46 -0500

-------- Original Message --------
From: "John Linko" <[email-masked]>

I work in Public Safety Communications in Colorado, and the two largest 
agencies I work with are using Nextel to communicate amongst themselves and 
between agencies. We have a very robust conventional VHF network that 
provides 100% mobile coverage across the majority of our 3300 square mile 
county, and 90% portable coverage in the most densely populated areas.

I was also on Cape Cod during the recent power outage, and monitored 
numerous talkgroups on the Cape Cod analog 800 system, which is also very 
robust and worked well during the outage period. I've monitored the Cape 800 
during both the summer tourist season and off-season, and have found it 
appears to be providing adequate coverage and channel loading for its' 
current user community.

My take on the Nextel phenomenon and attractiveness to police agencies is 
the ability to communicate discreetly. With the advent of the new Uniden and 
RS scanners that can track and decode several digital trunked syatems with 
3600 or 9600 baud control channels, Nextel is attempting to position itself 
as the only way to communicate discreetly. From where I sit this is 
follhardy for several reasons, not the least of which is that Nextel does 
not have anything near approaching enough sites to cover where officers need 
to be, at least in our area.

>From my standpoint, this flies in the face of a principle I have long 
adhered to; Mission-critical public safety wireless communications should 
not be solely dependent on a resource that is shared with the general 
public. This includes paging services, wireless providers, etc.

John N3RTS
Grand Junction, Colorado

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