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CNMI eyes upgrade of communication system
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Posted on Apr 05 2001
Key government agencies led by the Emergency Management Office are revving up plans to upgrade the Commonwealth’s outdated communication response system in efforts to maintain preparedness for emergency disasters, in the national or local scale.
EMO Director Gregorio A. Deleon Guerrero said yesterday department heads are currently exploring for sources of funding to finance the systems upgrade that is envisioned to bob the length of response time, especially in crises situations.
“There have been issues raised that the communication system we use is old and dilapidating. We are looking at possibly local resources and federal grants to support this project,” said the EMO official.
Agencies mainly involved in emergency response operations such as the Department of Public Safety, Department of Public Health, and the Department of Public Works have been meeting regularly to dwell into pressing communication issues, including the proposed systems improvement.
The various departments are currently linked with the Smartnet system at 800 megahertz. The existent communications infrastructure was in place in the early 90s.
“We want to upgrade this system into a more dependable version. We want to tap new technology. The advancement in technology changes by the minute. We have to catch up with the proper mode,” said the EMO director.
He added that improvements in the system need to be instituted in order to shrink the time for response operations, thereby increasing chances of saving human lives.
“Our system right now is adequate but at times it fluctuates, sometimes some channels are down,” he pointed out.
Government heads are set to conduct a systems analysis to determine the anticipated cost of the communications upgrade project.
