Subject: [NEXTEL-1] New York watching Pa.'s emergency radio system overruns, delays

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 14:02:58 -0400

New York watching Pa.'s emergency radio system overruns, delays
By MICHAEL GORMLEY ('The Associated Press') - Monday,
May 10, 2004, Filed at 5:48 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A contract similar to New York's for a statewide
emergency radio system has led to a call for an audit in Pennsylvania
where lawmakers say the project is over budget and late.

As in New York, M/A-Com won the Pennsylvania contract over frequent
competitor Motorola. In Pennsylvania, the system first authorized in
1999 at a cost of $179 million is now estimated to cost nearly $400
million and is years behind schedule, said state Rep. Kelly Lewis.

A week ago, Lewis and Rep. Pat Browne called for an audit and public
hearings on the project, one of the elements in Gov. Tom Ridge's state
security plan before he joined the Bush administration as head of
homeland security.

Lewis on Monday said the project has languished. He questioned the
awarding of the contract to M/A-Com, whether the system can work as
promised and its final cost.

"Not only Pennsylvania, but other states have attempted to develop this
technology and this is serious stuff," Lewis said Monday. "This isn't
something you play around with."

The emergency radio systems would replace a patchwork of sometimes
unreliable signals. California, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey and
Washington passed legislation to create the wireless networks in 2003,
according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

NYPIRG and the other government reform groups were critical of the deal
and the role played by some of M/A-Com's influential lobbyists,
including former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and the firm run by John
Sununu, former White House chief of staff during the first Bush
administration.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--emergencyradio0510may10,0,6999951.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

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