162-2001 LTC
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. ) k '2 - 2tJo J
m
From:
Mayor Neisen Q, Kasdin and Date: July 16, 2001
City Commissioners
Jorge M, Gonzalez J.' .. J
City Manager ~ v' 0
RCC CONSULTANT ,INC. FINAL REPORT ON THE PROPOSED MOTOROLA 800MHZ
RADIO SYSTEM UPGRADE.
To:
Subject:
On December 20, 2000, the City Commission approved a Technical Service Agreement
with RCC/Omnicom, Inc., now called RCC Consultants, Inc., to conduct an Independent
Verification Validation (IW) of the proposed upgrade of the City's 800 MHz radio system.
In short, the IW was to determine whether the proposed Motorola, Inc, upgrade to the
present City of Miami Beach 800 MHz radio system is necessary and, if so, how the
upgrade should be accomplished. The Executive Summary of the final report from RCC
Consultants, Inc. is attached and the findings are summarized below:
. System Obsolescence - The existing Motorola SmartNet system is fourteen years old.
Major portions of the existing fixed radio site transmitter equipment and dispatch
consoles are no longer being manufactured and are therefore obsolete, The equipment
obsolescence requires an upgrade of the fixed radio sites as well as the consoles.
· System Coverage - Specific area coverage problems have been identified as well as
system degradation performance measured. These identified problem areas will be
resolved with advances in technology provided for in a digital simulcast system
transmitting from two towers. This improves the area reception of Police and Fire
dispatch and repeater transmissions when the users are within vehicles or structures,
. System Additions - The proposed system upgrade will employ an additional
transmitter site at 75111 Street and Dickens and will utilize digital voice transmission, This
new transmission site will replace the existing La Gorce Palace receiver site.
RECOMMENDATION
RCC Consultants, Inc, completed studies on behalf of the City with respect to two
budgetary proposals from Motorola, Inc, for:
. An 800M Hz Trunked Digital SmartZone Simulcast System Upgrade.
. A Tower, Equipment Building and Generator for the 75th Street and Dickens location.
Letter to Commission
RCC Consultants, Inc.
July 13, 2001
Page 2
RCC has determined that these proposals substantially meet the long-range needs of the
City. Further, the City should negotiate with Motorola to define a detailed Statement of
Work (SOW) and to arrive at a fair market price. Motorola's proposal is for $6.4 million,
RCC Consultants, Inc, advises that the City should be able through negotiations to reduce
this initial amount.
Purchasing the system upgrade from Motorola will permit the City to continue to utilize their
existing investment in Motorola handheld radio equipment. In recent years, the City has
replaced all ofthe Motorola handheld radios with newer models that have the capability of
transmitting in dual mode (analog and digital) signals. Due to proprietary trunking
standards, these Motorola radios are useable only with the Motorola SmartNet or
SmartZone system.
The other alternative would be to draft an RFP with technical specifications to seek
competitive bids from Ericsson and other public safety system providers as determined by
the City of Miami Beach.
On the basis of this report, the Administration will submit a Commission Memorandum that
requests the waiver of formal competitive bidding and the authorization to negotiate with
Motorola, Inc., Ericsson, or any other public safety system provider as determined by the
City of Miami Beach.
JMG:PDW:MKRGL
F:/cmgr/$alVltc-Ol/rcc,doc
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City of Miami Beach Review and Analysis of Motorola Proposal for 800 MHz Trunked Digital
SmartZone Radio System Upgrade
2.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The following is a summary of our findings outlined in this document. The
recommendations in this summary represent major issues pertinent to negotiations.
Complete financial and technical findings and recommendations can be found in
sections 8 and 9.
2.1 Current Reality
The 14-year-old Motorola analog SmilrtNet system is performing well under the
maintenance of Motorola and under the management of City staff. The expected useful
life of a radio system is 15 years. In the past, radio systems have been stretched to 20
years. However, technology advances have accelerated the obsolescence of trunked
radio systems and recently there have been growing concerns regarding problems with
coverage, reliability issues with aged equipment, and operational issues with respect to
the dispatch consoles.
Of major concem are the following areas:
A.
The base station repeaters and satellite receivers are obsolete, and no longer
are supported by Motorola. Additionally, other system equipment is wearing-out
and becoming obsolete.
B.
The dispatch consoles are obsolete, beginning to wear out, and contain parts
that are no longer supplied. In addition, the consoles use "button and LED"
technology, which limits their flexibility, thus many City talk-groups cannot be
accessed on the console, and the dispatchers must utilize a handheld radio to
supplement dispatch activities. Newer consoles employ a CRT graphic user
interface to overcome this hardware limitation.
C. North end coverage has degraded and is worse during rush hours. The north end
cOverage problem can best be fixed through a redesign of the system into a
simulcast configuration. This modification will require replacement of the obsolete
base stations and extensive modifications to the infrastructure, which would
include the replacement of the console systems.
D. Some areas within the first floor of the Police Department headquarters have
poor coverage. RCC suggests that an intemal antenna system and bi-directional
amplifier (BOA) be installed within the building.
2.2 RCC's Analysis of Motorola's Proposal
The following key points should be considered with respect to the Motorola proposal.
RCC Consultants, Inc.
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City of Miami Beach Reviewand Analysis of Motorola Proposal for 800 MHz Trunked Digital
SmartZone Radio System Upgrade
A.
The proposed system will provide a substantial improvement to the coverage of
the north half of the City, improve dispatch capabilities, and replace worn out and
obsolete equipment.
B. Although the proposal is called an "upgrade," it is in effect the total replacement
of the fixed radio infrastructure (excluding microwave and subscriber equipment).
C. Motorola is offering a "migration path" to an APCO-25 compliant radio system".
The proposed system is far removed from being APCO-25 compliant. The
hardware required to approach APCO-25 compliance is not yet available from
Motorola. At a minimum, the proposed Quantar base stations would eventually
need to be replaced with STR3000 models, and the proposed replacement 6809
controllers would become obsolete. Additionally, all analog subscriber radios
used by non-public safety departments would need to be replaced with more
expensive digital models.
D. Replacement of the system infrastructure alone can only be accomplished
through sole source negotiation with Motorola. Motorola's cost proposal is $6.4
Million. The other alternative would be replacement of the infrastructure and all of
the subscriber equipment at a higher initial cost.
E.
Replacing the entire system under a competitive procurement would cost
approximately $8.3 Million.
F. The proposed cost of the Motorola upgrade is approximately $970K higher than if
the same equipment were purchased as a part of an entire system within a
competitive procurement.
G. The value, less depreciation, of the existing subscriber equipment is
approximately $800K. The fixed infrastructure is nearing full depreciation.
H. An additional $220K worth of digital subscriber equipment will be reqUired to add
Beach Patrol and Police motorcycles into the digital upgrade.
2.3 RCC's Recommendations
An upgrade to a simulcast system is warranted as are the upgrades to the consoles and
other support equipment. APCO-25 compliant digital technology is not an imperative
requirement for the City. However, the digital audio capability (CAI) is embedded in the
existing digital public safety subscriber equipment and it offers the City additional
signaling features as well as more consistent audio performance in weak signal
locations.
A.
The differential in the proposed cost and the competitive value ~n be narrowed
through further negotiations with Motorola. The added cost and delay of replacing
RCC Consultants, Inc.
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City of Miami Beach Review and Analysis of Motorola Proposal for 800 MHz Trunked Digital
SmartZone Radio System Upgrade
the entire system under a competitive procurement favors negotiation with
Motorola.
B.
A detailed design review needs to be performed prior to negotiations to ensure
that all areas of concern are covered, and the SOW accurately reflects the City's
requirements.
C.
Additional quantities of required digital subscriber equipment need to be
identified prior to negotiations.
D.
Negotiations should include establishing the best price for long term procurement
of add-on digital and analog subscriber equipment and accessories.
E.
The procedures and criteria used for acceptance of the equipment and coverage
need to be reviewed prior to negotiations to ensure that the operational
requirements of the City are properly reflected.
F.
RCC recommends specifying a delivered audio quality performance DAQ-3.4 as
it is a more appropriate level of performance for a digital simulcast public safety
system.
G.
The coverage acceptance test plan (CATP) needs to be modified to reflect DAQ
3.4 and needs to include real world voice testing for verification of performance.
H. A mutually acceptable acceptance test plan (ATP) and coverage acceptance test
plan (CATP) and 30 day test period need to be developed as a part of the
contract document.
RCC Consultants. Inc.
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