Raytheon to deploy P25 system in eastern Idaho

Raytheon announced this week that it will provide an interoperable, Project 25 (P25) radio system for public-safety agencies throughout eastern Idaho. The company will be a subcontractor on an undisclosed, multimillion dollar contract awarded to primary contractor Teton Communications.

Raytheon will deliver a 14-site, P25net digital trunked radio communications solution and system integration services, including equipment configuration and 24-hour technical support. The company’s P25net platform delivers an advanced Internet protocol (IP) networked radio system that is compatible with P25 radios and other manufacturers’ P25 radio systems, said Kevin Ball, P25net lead engineer.

According to Ball, the company’s common-air interface will let counties in Idaho use subscriber equipment, mobiles and portables from any manufacturer they choose via a 700 MHz trunked system. The system also includes mobiles and portables from Tait Radio Communications, he said

“What we do is channel mapping where we take three VHF channels used by agencies in Idaho already and their conventional channels, and we tie them into a talk group in the trunk system,” Ball said. “That gives interoperability between the trunk system and those legacy, conventional channels.”

The system will be deployed in Freemont, Madison, Jefferson, Bonneville and Clark counties. The counties were looking for a solution that would work across myriad public-safety agencies, but wouldn’t tie them down to a single vendor, said Karen Steinfeld, director of civil communications solutions for P25net, adding that P25’s open architecture delivers that flexibility.

“They wanted to leverage their buying power as a group and have a system that enabled interoperability across the different agencies in the different jurisdictions,” Steinfeld said. “The system will be used on a routine basis by the fire, police, search and rescue, ambulance and sheriff as well as during large-scale emergencies.”