After Katrina, Justice weighs changes to wireless communications upgrade

The Justice Department is moving forward with an effort to build a nationwide wireless communications system for federal law enforcement agencies, but is reviewing whether any of its requirements should be changed based on what happened to communications networks during Hurricane Katrina.

The department has issued a solicitation for the Integrated Wireless Network and is moving forward as planned, a Justice spokeswoman said Monday. The program is worth an estimated $2.5 billion.

The department, however, is examining lessons learned from the hurricane, which demolished or severely degraded federal, state and local communications networks as well as electricity and other public services.

"Katrina had a devastating effect on most public safety communications systems in southern Louisiana and Mississippi," Vance Hitch, the Justice Department's chief information officer, told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Sept. 29. "Each of our components was able to re-establish emergency communications capabilities within days of the storm.

"However, based on this experience, the IWN program is reassessing requirements for how the IWN is built and deployed," Hitch said. "We will also look at strategies for reducing dependence on utility services that are at risk of damage or failure during a storm or a terrorist attack."

The IWN program is a joint effort between the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury. It is envisioned to support about 80,000 federal officers in all 50 states and U.S. territories with wireless communications capabilities, including Voice over Internet Protocol and streaming video. Based on the government's preliminary estimates, the program will require installation of communications equipment at about 2,500 locations around the country, Hitch said.

"Although most major metropolitan areas have some basic capability to link agency communications systems together to communicate in emergency situations, much of the country's existing capabilities are limited and do not meet the requirements for all circumstances," Hitch said.

"To date, the IWN program has developed a comprehensive set of functional and management requirements, conducted a technical assessment and market research into products and services that may provide the basis for the IWN system, and deployed several pilot systems to assess technology options and gain lessons learned on managing multi-agency systems," he added.

As of Monday afternoon, the department was unable to confirm when it plans to sign a contact for the program.