Florida judge recommends dismissal of Harris protest, award of statewide P25 contract to Motorola Solutions

Given this uncertainty for more than 14% of the sites that Motorola Solutions plans to deploy in its proposed P25 SLERS, Harris representatives argued that state evaluators could not know whether Motorola Solutions would be able to provide the necessary radio coverage stipulated by the state—and that the cost of a Motorola Solutions SLERS would increase substantially if new towers had to be developed.

Culpepper acknowledged the possible complications and costs to Motorola Solutions, if the prospective vendor could not use the 21 tower sites that would need to be conveyed by Harris. However, such a scenario would not result in an additional cost to the state of Florida, as Motorola Solutions representatives testified that the $687.8 million bid means “the price is the price,” according to Culpepper’s decision.

“Should Motorola incur additional capital costs to implement its system, the state will not pay Motorola more than the ‘ceiling pricing’ Motorola quoted in its SLERS Design Pricing Workbook Pricing Summary,” according to Culpepper’s ruling. “Motorola attested that it is fully aware that it bears all costs necessary to ensure that its SLERS service meets the … coverage and capacity objectives. Therefore, even if the individual component prices of Motorola’s system increase prior to the start of the SLERS contract, the ultimate price Motorola quoted to the Department remains the same.”

The Motorola Solutions bid also implies an agreement to a “Termination for Convenience” clause in a prospective contract—a stipulation that initially caused Harris to express reservations about the new SLERS initiative.

“This provision authorizes the Department the right to terminate the SLERS contract for any reason, or no reason whatsoever,” according to Culpepper’s ruling. “One example of how the Department might cancel the contract “for convenience” would be if the Legislature determined that the state no longer needed, or wanted, the SLERS. The Termination for Convenience clause would allow the Department to terminate its agreement without incurring any financial obligation.”