Alaska connecting responders in state with radio system | 11.16.2006 | 04:29:12 | Views: 5501 | ID: November 16 '06: Alaskan state officials are using more than $50 million in federal Department of Homeland Security funding to build a state-wide interoperable radio system that will link first responders, police officials and state and local governments, the Associated Press reported Monday. The $50m will be supplemented by an earmarked $80 million promised by Republican Sen. Ted Stevens for the "Alaska Mobile Radio" system. John Madden, the deputy director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management located at Fort Richardson told the AP, the radio system has not been finished but that it is operational. "There are still several gateways that need to be established to ensure that the state and local agencies can connect with each other." According to the AP, the radio system will help "workers from different agencies to talk to each other during emergencies. The system organizes the agencies into groups that individual radio users can block or include with the flip of a switch." On full completion, the AP continued, the system will include federal, state and local first responders. The system has also been designed so that if "one link goes down, another takes its place." Madden continued, "Through this system, you could key the mike [sic] on the radio in Fairbanks and talk to another radio in Anchorage," even when both users are talking on different frequencies.
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