Motorola Solutions acknowledges it proposed 700 MHz TETRA system for NYC transit before filing protest

But Motorola Solutions officials have questioned how a PowerTrunk TETRA radio could earn type acceptance for use on the public-safety 700 MHz narrowband spectrum when TETRA is not an approved technology in the band.

“The default is that we’d like them to do it again, without the device requirements,” Torbenson said. “Our argument is that PowerTrunk is essentially presenting to the MTA that they have a device that is compliant, when we think that the crux here is that there is no such thing as a compliant device that runs TETRA in that spectrum, because the FCC says you can’t.

“So, that’s an issue that needs to be clarified in the form of a different bid or a different RFP process, because you can only do what you can do.”

But an MTA staff summary (page 94) indicates that the problem extends beyond the fact that Motorola Solutions does not have a 700 MHz TETRA radio that has been certified; the company in December made an e-mail proposal calling for the use of a radio that did not exist.

“On Dec. 2, 2015, Motorola submitted its response, which contained—rather than the answers to NYC Transit’s three questions—a paragraph-long ‘commitment’ to building an entirely new mobile radio different from that set forth in either their initial or their interim proposal,” the staff summary states. “The e-mail introduced, for the first time, the concept of developing this new mobile radio that would operate in both 700 MHz and 800 MHz.

“Under this ‘solution,’ Motorola did not offer a TETRA radio that was presently designed and FCC certified for combined 700/800 [MHz] operation, but [the company] would have to design and manufacture a brand new radio capable of operating across both bands, which it would then have to submit for FCC certification. This last-minute conceptual ‘solution,’ which lacked technical specifications or detail, was deficient on its face.”

MTA’s selection committee also noted other technical deficiencies in the Motorola Solutions proposal. Despite increasing the number of proposed sites from 19 to 27 during multiple rounds of bidding and subsequent negotiations, the Motorola Solutions proposal was “deemed marginal” by the technical committee “due to its inability to demonstrate compliance with the minimum requirements of Transit’s specifications with respect to coverage and signal strength on the 700 MHz system,” according to the MTA staff summary.