OPEN SKY
OpenSky is a digital radio system sold by a division of Harris (formerly a division of M/A-COM). It was introduced in 1999 as an expansion of the Monarch wireless voice and data system built for FedEx.

OpenSky uses a four-slot TDMA transmission method (four-level GFSK modulation) in 25 kHz bandwidth channels with an aggregate data rate of 19.2 kbps. The airlink protocols are based on modified CDPD and carry voice using DVSI's AMBE (Advanced MultiBand Excitation) vocoder.

Note that the older ProVoice on EDACS uses GFSK at 9.6 kbps and the IMBE vocoder.

OPEN SKY SYSTEMS
Updates on the following reported OpenSky systems are encouraged.
Please send additions, corrections and updates to Dan.

State Location Contract
Award
Go Live
Date
Status Comments
Arizona Central Arizona Project 2008     Upgrade existing EDACS
7 sites
narrowband (12.5 kHz) channels
1,400 users
California Orange County 1998     Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA)
California Sacramento and Placer Counties December 2005   Not yet accepted; not in service Sacramento Municipal Utility District
900 square mile service area; 550,000 customers
Voice and Data in 900 MHz, two-slot TDMA with 12.5 kHz channels

More than $6 million

Florida Palm Beach County April 2001 April 15, 2010 Partially operational Municipal Public Safety Communications Consortium (MPSCC)
  • Town of Palm Beach
  • City of Palm Beach Gardens
  • City of West Palm Beach
  • Village of Atlantis
  • Town of Jupiter
  • Town of Juno Beach

Phase 1 to use five repeater sites
$18 million

Palm Beach Police Department has been on the system full-time since April 15, 2010.

As of June 2010, Palm Beach Gardens and the Town of Palm Beach are on the system. The towns of Jupiter and Juno Beach are expected to join.

The West Palm Beach Fire Department determined that OpenSky had not been used successfully in any fire department in the country.

Jupiter went live on the system on May 5, 2011.

As of June 2011, West Palm Beach has spent $3.6 million on equipment and $465,000 in maintenance. The city is awaiting final approval to purchase 400 radios for $1.6 million.

Georgia Jackson       EMC
Georgia Jackson County       Water Authority
Georgia Marietta        
Georgia Newton County 2006 October
2008
Complete $4.5 million
7 repeater sites
575 users (initial)
1,300+ users (expansion)
Illinois Cities of Aurora and Naperville 2008 December 1, 2010 Operational Aurora: $15.9 million
Naperville: $10.1 million

Press reports indicate the system has experienced almost 800 malfunctions between December 2010 to March 2011.

Illinois Peoria County December 2007     $11.2 million
Indiana Steuben County May 2007 January 12, 2011 Under Review $5.6 million
Eight channels, six repeater sites, 800 MHz

System went live January 12, 2011.

Experienced a total failure on April 5, 2011. County Sheriff issued a statement of "No Confidence" and ordered a return to the old EDACS network while the County Commissioners explore options.

Indiana Merrillville     Reportedly operational Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO)
Report of sites going in to Baily and Michigan City power plants.
These are two channel, four slot sites.
Michigan Detroit 2002   Apparently operational
(No local reports)
Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT)
Single-site UHF (possibly call sign KZI382) for buses
Michigan Oakland County February 2002   some agencies active on the system $33 million
Connect more than 80 agencies; 6,000 users
Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System (CLEMIS)

Originally slated for completion in late 2004.
As of August 2008, operating in Troy, Farmington and Clawson.

Final system to use more than 40 frequencies; 35 repeater sites

Nevada Clark County        
Nevada Las Vegas February 2006   Operational in January 2011 Serves Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD)

Original (2006) contract cost of $8.9 million

As of 2011, the "DesertSky" system uses 28 repeater sites and claims to support more than 12,000 users.

New Jersey statewide     initiative in 2006 New Jersey Transit
New York Statewide 2004 Cancelled Contract terminated
January 2009
$2 billion
Oklahoma Broken Arrow       Three sites licensed: two in Broken Arrow and one in Jenks.

Frequencies: [Broken Arrow (Kenosha Street)] 854.0375, 854.1625, 854.3625, 854.4125, 854.4375, 856.7875, 856.8375, 857.7875, 857.8375, 858.7875, 858.8375, 859.7875

[Mobile] 854.0375, 854.1375, 854.1625, 854.1875, 854.2125, 854.3125, 854.3625, 854.4125, 854.4375, 854.4875

[Jenks] 856.2625, 857.2625, 858.2625, 859.2625

[Broken Arrow (South Hickory)] 854.1375, 854.1875, 854.2125, 854.3125, 854.4875

Equipment installed in 2010 into police, fire and emergency medical service vehicles. Includes mobile data connectivity.

Pennsylvania Allegheny County August 2004      
Pennsylvania Cumberland County August 2000   Operational Poor or no signals in some areas
Pennsylvania Lancaster County December 2000 Cancelled Contract terminated
March 2008
Originally a $35 million system
Spent $13.8 million
Pennsylvania Statewide 1999   Partial operation
Still not working as planned

In April 2011, State Police report an average of 161 service outages each month.

$368 million spent as of June 2008
($179 million appropriated by the State in 1996; an additional $189 million appropriation)
Annual operating cost of $22 million

Original plan for statewide coverage called for 268 repeater sites. As of April 2010 the State has deployed over 800 sites in an attempt to provide adequate coverage.

Texas Dallas May 2009   Proposed Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)
3,000 radios
existing DART 800 and 900 MHz frequencies
Texas Houston   February 2010 Operational Continental Airlines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Texas Houston August 2010   Contract Award CenterPoint Energy

Will replace the current analog trunked radio system

Washington, D.C. area Washington Gas August 2009   Contract award 20-site, 900 MHz
two-slot TDMA in 12.5 kHz channels

Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia

Wisconsin Ozaukee County     Operational Data-only

Meeting minutes in 2004 indicate the county stayed with EDACS rather than go to OpenSky due to "problems with voice over IP" and "Open Sky is still good for data, but still not up to speed with voice."

Wisconsin Milwaukee 2003 September 2010 Police operational as of February 2010

Data services working for Police and Fire

Local reports of police cars and officers equipped with OpenSky radios as of Summer 2009

Media reports indicate it was fully operational as of September 2010, although system-wide failures continue to occur (October 7, 2010, for at least 30 minutes).

Cost: $15 million

Planned project phases:

  1. Data services
  2. Police
  3. Fire and EMS
  4. Health and Public Works

Missed deadlines:

  • November 2005
  • January 2006
  • June 2006
  • August 2007

Allegations include:

  • Sufficient capacity for the city on the county trunked system
  • Motorola withdrew from the bidding process, claiming it was rigged for M/A-COM
  • The city did not hire an outside radio consultant; the specifications and Request for Proposals came from city committee
Various FedEx       19 regional systems linked together

CORPORATE HISTORY
1936 General Electric Mobile Radio Division formed
August 1950 Microwave Associates, Inc. starts in Boston, Massachusetts
1978 Microwave Associates, Inc. changes name to M/A-COM, Inc.
August 1989 General Electric and Ericsson form Ericsson-GE Mobile Communications, Inc.
May 1998 Ericsson purchases General Electric's remaining 40% interest in Ericsson-GE
June 1995 AMP, Inc. acquires M/A-COM for $277 million
April 1999 Tyco Electronics acquires AMP, Inc.
January 2000 Ericsson sells the Private Radio Systems unit to Com-Net Critical Communications, creating Com-Net Ericsson Critical Radio Systems
May 2001 Tyco International acquires Com-Net Ericsson and merges it into its M/A-COM divison
June 2007 Tyco International splits into three operating companies, one of which is Tyco Electronics Ltd. M/A-COM is part of Tyco Electronics' Wireless Systems Segment.
April 2009 Tyco Electronics announces the sale of the Wireless Systems Segment to Harris for $675 million, who will combine it with Harris RF Communications. The new business unit will be called "Public Safety and Professional Communications."

LINKS
New York State Wireless Network

Pennsylvania Radio Project FAQ
Homepage for Pennsylvania's Public Safety Radio Project


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Last updated August 12, 2011