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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The City of Yellowknife is on the verge of finalizing the implementation of a new radio network for its emergency responders.

The complete overhaul, conducted by New Zealand-based company Tait Radio Communications, will have taken more than five years.

Initial studies on the aging network in 2007 by Planetworks Consulting revealed that the city was in dire need of an upgrade to its radio network.

The study revealed several critical issues.

"The existing radio channel resources were not compliant with the National Fire Prevention Association requirements, the dispatch location and operation do not meet key NFPA standards for reliability and monitoring, and much of the equipment is obsolete and in need of replacement," according to a capital projects document on the city website.

In 2008, Mory Kapustianyk of Planetworks warned the city about the radio network's poor coverage.

The same document states that the cost of the project is estimated to be $1,967,329. It should be completed by the fall, said Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

One of the biggest challenges facing emergency responders is dealing with frigid temperatures. They need to be able to rely on a network that won't fail in -40 C weather.

In a news release, director of public safety Dennis Marchiori said the city would benefit greatly from having a dependable radio system that could support crews on the street with voice and data capabilities.

This year, mobile data capacities are being introduced to the infrastructure. An automatic vehicle location feature will help protect staff and monitor where they are, and automated water meter readings will improve accuracy.

According to the release, the improvements constitute a "replacement and consolidation of three existing systems being used by individual departments into one new system used by all."

The revamped, seven-channel network will provide responders with city-wide coverage for fire, municipal enforcement and public works. In the future it may also accommodate more departments.

Each year more than 4,000 calls are filtered through the current radio network, which was initially built to handle about 20 per cent of that volume. The new network will go nicely with the state-of-the-art training facility obtained by the fire department last year, a 1,600-square-foot structure located at the airport.

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