County in Washington state sticks with conventional analog to improve coverage affordably

Ron Spencer, Motorola Solutions’ senior account manager for a territory that includes Thurston County, said “conventional is alive and well,” noting that Motorola Solutions still considers conventional analog technology a key part of its product portfolio. In many rural areas like Thurston County, conventional analog continues to be the most practical technology choice.

“The big cities have 800 MHz trunked systems, but analog conventional is the most prevalent architecture still in play in these rural counties,” Spencer said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Thurston County is the best example of a county that proactively anticipated narrowbanding, had a consultant, had an engineered solution, had an RFP, went through all of the formal process and not only met the FCC mandate, they improved their coverage and operations in doing so.”