Jefferson County 911 Dispatch Adheres to Narrowband Mandate
Cathy Kingsley, Missouri Lawyers Media
Jefferson County 911 Dispatch recently voted to spend $31.4 million to upgrade its radio equipment to meet federal requirements.
In December 2004, the Federal Communications Commission issued an order mandating that all dispatch radios have to be narrow band capable by Jan. 1, 2013, to continue legal use of Part 90 radio frequencies.
The FCC introduced the federal “Narrowband Mandate” that compels all first responders to upgrade their communications equipment and spectrum licenses to avoid the communications pitfalls in the aftermath of 9/11.
Jefferson County emergency management director Ed Kemp said it is similar to the mandated switch from analog to digital signals on television.
The county solicited RFPs and had two responses, Kemp said. The lowest and best bid was from Motorola.
“The state-of-art system will allow fire, police and ambulance districts in the county to communicate,” Kemp said. “It’s something that we never had before. Everybody will be able to talk to everybody else.”
With the push of a button, the radio sends out a GPS location so that if a fireman goes down, it will alert the dispatcher as to that unit and where the unit is located, he said.
It will also allow interoperability with Missouri counties including St. Charles, and St. Louis, as well as St. Louis City and Illinois counties of St. Clair, Madison, and Monroe.
If one of the county’s towers goes down, a tower in another county can connect with the county’s other towers to provide seamless communication, Kemp said.
Emergency responders have been preparing for this.
In April 2009 the citizens of the county passed a half-cent sales tax to fund the 9-1-1 system and repeal the surcharge on landline phones.
The half-cent sales tax was supposed to generate up to $8 million a year, but with the economy, it has only brought in about $5 million a year, Kemp said.
In addition to allowing Jefferson County 911 Dispatch to continue providing E911 and dispatching services, the funding mechanism allowed for the ability to locate 911 cell phone callers and for Code Red (reverse 911 system).
To prepare the microwave radio system operations to narrowband (12.5 kilohertz or equivalent) operation, the county will need to supply communications towers and buildings at the base of those towers to house equipment.
There is a sunset provision on the sales tax that after 10 years, it will be reduced to a quarter cent.
About half of the money is available now and the remainder will have to be borrowed through bonds, Kemp said.
Land mobile radio systems still using wideband channels as of Jan. 1, 2013, could risk the loss of radio communications; substantial FCC fines (potentially up to $10,000 per day); and revocation of FCC licenses.
The 911 center has been serving the county since 1992, and provides dispatch service for approximately 200,000 people within a 665-square-mile area.
Jefferson County 911 Dispatch currently dispatches for five police agencies, 15 fire agencies, and four ambulance districts, as well as Jefferson County Emergency Management, Hazmat, and Animal Control.
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