Gov foots $211m to rebuild radio

[Fred_Vobbe]

RESCUE RADIO: GOVERNMENT OFFERS $211 MILLION TO REBUILD COMMUNICATIONS FOLLOWING KATRINA

Federal regulators say that the government will spend $211 million to help rebuild communications links damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. They also hope to find better ways to better protect such systems.

A category 4 storm when it made landfall, Katrina knocked out wired and cellular telephone service to millions of residents in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It also damaged police, fire and rescue service radio systems across the region and wiped out 911 emergency service in many areas.

The absence of those vital links made it difficult for public-safety and emergency rescue officials to talk to each other. For weeks many emergency providers were almost totally reliant on a corps of volunteer ham radio operators coordinated by the American Radio Relay League as their only means of messaging the outside world.

Kevin Martin is the Chairman of the FCC. In a statement made at a meeting in Atlanta to assess the effects of the storm, Martin said that his agency needs to determine how it can help companies strengthen the nations communications infrastructure, create more robust and reliable networks, and improve the ability to quickly restore service when disaster does strike.

Martin said he will appoint a panel to recommend ways to improve communication among public-safety agencies during disasters. The FCC also will create a bureau to promote more reliable crisis communications for police, fire and national security agencies.

After the hurricane, various public-safety agencies often could not communicate because their radio systems operate on different frequencies. A multi-million-dollar FEMA interoperable radio system specifically designed to interconnect all of agencies together was reported to have failed miserably.

(Published reports, via Amateur Radio Newsline)