[FedCom] IWN Audit Report Backround Info

[Chris Parris]

Not sure if this link made it over to the Fedcom list yet, but if you have a
chance, take a look at the Audit Report on the current status of the federal
Integrated Wireless System:

http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/OBD/a0725/final.pdf

Besides all the budget and organizational problems with the IWN project, the
report contains some interesting tidbits that might be of interest to
federal listeners. Among them are:

Most of the Department of Justice radio systems are not yet narrow-band
compliant and the DoJ has been requesting waivers from the NTIA to stay on
the air. Only the BATF seems to be narrow-band compliant.

In 2004, the FBI replaced their failing radio system in the Las Vegas area
with a new, narrow-band VHF conventional system with AES encryption.

Most of the DoJ radio systems are still using DES encryption, which is no
longer approved for federal communications.

The report confirms something I have heard from various sources - that the
US Marshals are using the FBI radio systems for their primary operations
(dispatch, license checks, etc.).

Rumors that the DEA will be moving off of their UHF frequencies to VHF
appear to be confirmed in this report. The DEA will be using the IWN as it
is deployed, however the DEA has not been happy with the IWN converge in the
Seattle pilot project, and continues to use their UHF tac channels in
addition to the IWN system.

After the Seattle pilot project was completed, the original plan was to
continue IWN deployment in the Southeastern US (Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, etc.). However the Joint Program Office has decided to shift the
next phase of installation to the southwestern border area, specifically
southern Arizona, New Mexico and the western tip of Texas (map of the
project is in the report).

- Chris

 --
Chris Parris
Fed Files Columnist
Monitoring Times Magazine
chrisparris at monitoringtimes.com
http://www.monitoringtimes.com
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/