Perhaps the most prevalent gripe coming from first responders is the inevitable communications break-down that results when multiple agencies respond to a single crisis. This could include natural disaster such as a hurricane or a large scale terrorist incident.
One possible solution comes from Thales Communications Inc. of Clarksburg, Md. The company has developed a radio, called Liberty, that purportedly is the first multiband, software defined land mobile radio specifically crafted for government agencies and first responders. It allows the transmission of messages across all public safety bands—136-174 MHz, 380-520 MHz, 700 MHz and 800 MHz.
“Liberty is size, weight, and performance equivalent to existing single-band portable land mobile portable radios and eliminates the requirement to carry multiple radios to cover fragmented frequency bands,” says a Thales spokeswoman. The new radio “provides all modes standardized for public safety use including Project 25 conventional and trunked and legacy analog.”