Subject: [NEXTEL-1] State of New York: NO to Motorola, YES to M/A Com

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 01 May 2004 04:23:06 -0400

State awards bid for emergency radio network

By MICHAEL GORMLEY
Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Pataki administration on Friday chose a
firm to create an emergency radio network for police, fire and
medical authorities statewide.

However, the state Office of Technology wouldn't release the
price of the bid by M/A-Com, part of Tyco International, for the
contract estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.

A Pataki spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment.
The statewide wireless network will replace outdated systems
with a digital radio network. It also will require a yet-to-be
determined number of towers to be built in the state's Adirondack
and Catskill parks, said state Office of Technology spokesman Rob
Roddy.

The state and the firm will now negotiate a 20-year contract by
November. The project is expected to be complete in five years and
will be paid for through a state surcharge.
But the contract award to M/A-COM, part of the Tyco
International companies incorporated in Bermuda, was criticized
before it was announced Friday afternoon.
Motorola, the only other bidder, told the Albany Times Union in
Friday's editions that the state set unrealistic and expensive
specifications and that M/A-Com (pronounced MAY-com) submitted an
unrealistically low bid.

Roddy said the bid is a "not-to-exceed price."
"The M/A-Com proposal was found to be the most technically,
environmentally and financially superior" bid," Roddy said.
"There was a thorough evaluation process so they are pretty
confident in selecting M/A-Com as the winning bidder."
The Adirondack Council, an environmental group, said the project
will require the cutting of hundreds or thousands of trees in
protected wilderness and dangerously place generators and fuel
tanks on mountain tops frequently struck by lightning.

The council's John Sheehan said the group would sue because it
feels putting the towers in the Catskills and Adirondacks violates
the protection of those areas under the state constitution. He said
the towers would also threaten tourism by creating unsightly
vistas.

"There's no end of difficulty with this," Sheehan said. He
said a network that uses satellites would avoid the environmental
concerns.

State Board of Elections records show Tyco Electronics, parent
of M/A-Com and Tyco's biggest business, contributed $10,000 to
Pataki's campaign in 2002 and 2003.

"I think they stepped over the line," said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky,
a
Westchester Democrat.

He also criticized the parent company, Tyco, for being incorporated in
Bermuda and
thus avoiding some domestic taxes. The firm has its operating
headquarters in New
Jersey.

"I don't know why we want to reward that kind of behavior," Brodsky
said.

____

On the Net:

M/A-Com http://www.macom.com

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--emergencyradio0430apr30,0,6279054.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire