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Michigan upgrades public safety radio system The first of four phases of an overhaul of the Michigan public safety communications system (MPSCS) has been completed on time and within budget, Gov. John Engler announced in February. The radio system was designed and manufactured by Motorola, Schaumburg, IL.

The new state police radio system is operating as designed_with improved coverage and advanced performance_throughout southeast Michigan, Engler said. The MPSCS, which will replace the State Police’s 1940s-vintage radio system, is expected to improve law enforcement and public safety and to serve the communications needs of state and local agencies. It is on schedule for statewide operation by late 1999.

Phase 2 work on the MPSCS has begun in southwest Michigan and is scheduled for completion in Fall 1998. The system’s $187-million cost is being funded by bonds sold by the state.

The existing radio system has many “dead spots” where troopers cannot communicate with their bases in certain parts of the state, said State Police Director Col. Michael D. Robinson. “The new radio system is designed to provide us with 97% statewide coverage 100% of the time, which is a tremendous improvement,” Robinson said.

The MPSCS is the first contracted statewide APCO Project 25-compliant system in the United States, Motorola said.

Engler said the state plans to expand the system so it eventually can support virtually instant vehicle registration information, occupant identification and driver’s license systems. The system also will help officers generate investigation reports in their vehicles and send them directly to central data banks, ensuring that timely information about criminals is available quickly.

Downbanded cellular technology puts operator on SMR Ericsson, Richardson, TX, has introduced its new downbanded cellular system with the launch of Hawaiian Wireless in Oahu. The system is the world’s first total IS-136 time-division multiple-access (TDMA) network and the first cellular system to use specialized mobile radio (SMR) frequencies, Ericsson said.

Hawaiian Wireless uses the same digital IS-136 technology used by cellular and personal communications services (PCS) operators throughout the continental United States. Ericsson also supplied dual-mode (digital and analog), dual-band (SMR and cellular) wireless handsets that provide subscribers with nationwide roaming on the 850MHz cellular analog systems.

The downbanded system consists of a mobile switching center with a home location register and Ericsson’s RBS 884 macro radio base stations, which have been modified for the new frequency spectrum. The RBS 884 base station can be configured for a single, two-or three-sector site.

Hawaiian Wireless was formed by Atlantic Cellular, which is reportedly studying the possibility of implementing digital cellular on SMR frequencies in other areas of the United States where the company has licenses for those frequencies.

CTIA comments on article examining association between wireless phones use, automobile accidents An article in the February issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) examined the relationship between wireless phone use and automobile accidents.

The wireless industry cooperated in the study, and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) concurred with the study’s conclusion that drivers should be vigilant in maintaining safe driving practices. In regard to phone use, the researchers recommended that drivers avoid unnecessary calls, keep conversations brief and suspend conversations when driving conditions become hazardous.

The researchers in the NEJM article also cited the benefits of wireless phones in cars, particularly the ability to call for help after an accident. CTIA said an additional benefit is the ability to call police to report drunk, impaired and aggressive drivers. Each year, Americans make over 18 million emergency and 9-1-1 calls on wireless phones. The benefits and safety features associated with wireless phones in cars has led to joint efforts with the National Safety Council, the American Automobiles Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Police agencies have said that phones in cars are valuable safety tools, CTIA said.

In regard to the study itself, CTIA responded by stating:

* This is a study of wireless phone users who were involved in accidents, not the preponderance of phone users not involved in accidents.

* The associated risks cited in the study deal with phone usage near the time of the accident, but not necessarily at the time of the accident. CTIA said the researchers acknowledged that none of the people they interviewed admitted to using a phone at the moment of the accident.

* A four-fold increase in risk cited in the study refers to the overall risk associated with driving. For example, if your chance of having an injury-producing accident is one in every 100,000 trips, then statistically, your chance of being involved in an accident in association with having used a wireless phone within a ten-minute period would rise to four in 100,000 trips.

* The results of the research deal with “association” not “cause.” In other words, the study does not contend that phones were the cause of accidents. There are, of course, many items that can be associated with vehicle accidents including weather, drowsiness, speeding, alcohol or road conditions.

* From 1988 to 1995, in the United States, wireless phone users increased 1,685% to 34 million subscribers. During the same period, injuries resulting from auto accidents decreased by 16.6% and fatalities decreased by 26%.

Peninsula Wireless becomes Repeater Technologies Peninsula Wireless Communications, Sunnyvale, CA, has changed its name to Repeater Technologies, hired new executives and arranged a round of financing to fund the company’s growth in developing repeaters for the wireless infrastructure market. The 13-year-old company’s board of directors said the new name was chosen “to reflect the firm’s focus on repeater solutions for wireless network build-outs worldwide.”

Corsair deploys fraud prevention in Southwest Corsair Communications, Palo Alto, CA, has agreed to install its PhonePrint cellular fraud prevention system for GTE Mobilnet throughout its Texas and New Mexico markets. Corsair began installing the system in El Paso, TX, in February, followed by GTE’s other Texas and New Mexico markets, which include Houston, Austin, Beaumont/Port Arthur, Galveston, Las Cruces and smaller markets. PhonePrint has disconnected more than 65 million fraudulent call attempts in 22 states.