LA-RICS LTE project shrinks as cities opt out, refuse to approve sites
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LA-RICS LTE project shrinks as cities opt out, refuse to approve sites
Most of the funding for the LA-RICS public-safety LTE system comes from a federal grant administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Under the terms of the grant, the public-safety LTE project—by far the largest in the United States—must be completed by Sept. 30, Mallon said. LA-RICS and its contractors are trying to complete the work by Aug. 15, so there is time to finish necessary administrative steps associated with the grant, he said.
In separate bids, Motorola Solutions won the contracts to build both the P25 and the LTE systems. In 2013, LA-RICS signed a contract with Motorola Solutions to build the P25 network at a cost that could total $149.6 million, if all phases of the plan are deployed. In March 2014, LA-RICS signed a $175 million deal with Motorola Solutions to build the LTE network.
Although recent news reports indicate that Motorola Solution officials are exploring the possible sale of the company, Mallon said his focus is on completing the LTE and LMR projects.
“I don’t that’s going to have any impact on us,” Mallon said. “We’ve certainly had conversations with Motorola about the impact to the existing team, and we’ve been promised that there will be no change.
“I think that any move to sell the company will be a long, protracted process, and we certainly hope to be done with the LTE system—not the LMR system—long before that. So, I’m not really too concerned with it at this point. From a project-management standpoint, we need to press forward and get things done within our timeline.”