摩托罗拉解决方案公司和佛罗里达州管理服务部未能DMS规定的截止日期12月31日前敲定一份价值6.878亿美元的合同，该合同将要求摩托罗拉解决方案公司全州范围内建立一个项目25网络，但目前还不清楚该州接下来将采取什么措施
. 12月23日，佛罗里达州DMS秘书长乔纳森·萨特致信摩托罗拉解决方案公司首席执行官格雷格·布朗，要求摩托罗拉解决方案公司12月31日之前签署一份合同，将佛罗里达州的执法无线电系统升级到P25标准。
摩托罗拉解决方案公司（Motorola Solutions）和佛罗里达州管理服务部（DMS）未能DMS规定的截止日期12月31日前敲定一份价值6.878亿美元的合同，该合同将要求摩托罗拉解决方案公司全州范围内建立一个项目25（P25）网络，但目前还不清楚该州接下来将采取什么措施
12月23日，佛罗里达州DMS秘书长乔纳森·萨特致信摩托罗拉解决方案公司首席执行官格雷格·布朗，要求摩托罗拉解决方案公司12月31日之前签署一份合同，将佛罗里达州的执法无线电系统（SLERS）升级到P25标准。萨特信中称，如果12月31日的最后期限前还没有达成协议，佛罗里达州将“继续评估购买下一代系统的其他方案”
佛罗里达DMS公司今天证实，P25SLERS项目的合同协议尚未到位
“我们还没有签订合同，”DMS的一位发言人今天早上回复来自IWCE上周紧急通信的多个询问的电子邮件中表示
没有提供其他细节。
争论的焦点是SLERS P25项目的命运，这是迄今为止北美最大的陆地移动无线电（LMR）交易。摩托罗拉解决方案公司的P25系统将取代目前的SLERS系统，这是一个使用过时的EDACS技术的全州LMR网络，由L3Harris拥有和维护
当P25项目投标时，中标的承包商应该有四年的时间2021年6月底之前建造新的SLERS系统，届时与L3Harris的SLERS合同到期。即使本周可以签署合同协议，摩托罗拉解决方案公司也只有不到18个月的时间2021年6月的最后期限前完成144个站点的全州P25网络
萨特12月23日的信标志着11天内萨特第二次写信给布朗，关于摩托罗拉解决方案公司（Motorola Solutions）6.878亿美元的出价，比L3Harris（当时被称为Harris）提出的出价低3亿美元——将佛罗里达州的执法无线电系统（SLERS）升级到P25标准
萨特12月12日给布朗的信中表示，摩托罗拉解决方案公司不愿意合同谈判中接受其投标条款。所有寻求P25合同的供应商都必须接受的一个关键条件是“为方便而终止合同”条款，该条款允许政府不提前通知的情况下随时退出可能签订的20年期合同
萨特12月12日的信中说：“根据佛罗里达州议会2019年立法会议期间授予国防部的权力，国防部[国防部]有权与摩托罗拉签订合同。”。“迄今为止，摩托罗拉一直表示希望修改竞争性采购期间谈判达成的实质性条款，并由摩托罗拉其BAFO[最佳和最终报价]中同意，包括为方便而终止合同。此外，摩托罗拉还向部门人员表示，这些条款是“交易破坏者”
“国防部将与摩托罗拉签订一份合同，其中包括竞争性采购期间谈判达成的所有实质性条款和条件。美国国防部要求摩托罗拉努力2019年12月20日星期五前敲定合同，以便国防部和佛罗里达州能够推进新系统
“如果国防部和摩托罗拉不能上述日期前敲定并执行合同，国防部将继续评估采购下一代系统的其他选择。”
根据萨特12月23日写给布朗的信，12月20日的最后期限被延长至12月31日
佛罗里达州DMS其采购文件中列入了“为方便而终止合同”的措辞，使接受该语言成为合格投标的一个条件。去年，当行政法法官Bruce Culpepper建议撤销哈里斯提出的有利于摩托罗拉解决方案投标的采购抗议时，摩托罗拉解决方案公司的代表们被提醒了这种情况
“这项[为方便而终止]条款授权国防部[国防部]有权以任何理由或任何理由终止SLERS合同，”卡佩珀认为。“如果立法机关认定州政府不再需要或不需要SLERS一家，那么该部门如何‘为了方便’取消合同。“为方便而终止合同条款将允许该部不承担任何财政义务的情况下终止其协议。”
佛罗里达州下一步会做什么还不确定。延长目前与L3Harris的SLERS交易似乎是一个考虑因素，即使可以与摩托罗拉解决方案公司达成协议。然而，目前还不清楚佛罗里达州让第一反应人员继续使用旧的EDACS技术多长时间内会感到舒服，以及L3Harris愿意支持这种系统多久
佛罗里达州DMS没有回复IWCE紧急通信部门的询问，要求澄清“下一代系统”中使用的技术，Satter信中表示，如果拟议的SLERS P25系统的合同未能12月31日前完成，该州将采购该技术
虽然P25被认为是北美公共安全通信的LMR标准，但这项技术并不是新技术，因为该技术的根源可以追溯到上世纪80年代末发起的一个APCO项目。相比之下，基于LTE的技术如蜂窝推送通话（push to talk over cellular，PoC）服务和关键任务推送通话（MCPTT）3GPP标准本应3月底提供给FirstNet用户，虽然更新得多，但关键任务的公共安全场景中还没有得到证实
Motorola Solutions and the state of Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) did not meet the DMS-imposed deadline of Dec. 31 to finalize a $687.8 million contract that would have Motorola Solutions build a statewide Project 25 (P25) network, but it is unclear what next steps are being taken by the state.
On Dec. 23, Florida DMS Secretary Jonathan Satter sent a letter to Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown that called on Motorola Solutions to sign by Dec. 31 a contract to upgrade Florida’s Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS) to the P25 standard. If a deal was not finalized by the Dec. 31 deadline, the state of Florida would “move forward with the evaluation of other options to procure a next-generation system,” according to Satter’s letter.
Florida DMS confirmed today that a contract agreement for the P25 SLERS project is not in place.
“We do not yet have a signed contract,” a DMS spokesperson stated this morning in an e-mail response to multiple inquiries from during the past week.
No other details were provided. asked whether the state was pursuing other options—as Satter said it would in his Dec. 23 letter—or still negotiating with Motorola Solutions, but DMS did not provide a response in time to be included in this article.
At issue is the fate of the SLERS P25 project, which is by far the largest land-mobile-radio (LMR) deal pending in North America. The statewide P25 system from Motorola Solutions is supposed to replace the current SLERS system, a statewide LMR network using aging EDACS technology that is owned and maintained by L3Harris.
When the P25 project was bid, the winning contractor was supposed to have four years to build the new SLERS system by the end of June 2021, when the current SLERS contract with L3Harris expires. Even if a contract agreement could be signed this week, Motorola Solutions would have less than 18 months to complete the 144-site statewide P25 network by the June 2021 deadline.
Satter’s Dec. 23 letter marked the second time in 11 days that Satter has written to Brown about Motorola Solutions’ $687.8 million bid—about $300 million less than the bid submitted by L3Harris (then known as Harris)—to upgrade Florida’s Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS) to the P25 standard.
In a Dec. 12 letter to Brown, Satter indicated that Motorola Solutions had not been willing to accept the terms of its bid in contract negotiations. One key condition that all vendors seeking the P25 contract were required to accept was a “termination for convenience” clause, which would let the state to back out of the potential 20-year deal whenever it wanted with little advance notice.
“Pursuant to the authority granted to the Department by the Florida Legislature during the 2019 legislative session, the Department [DMS] is authorized to enter into the contract with Motorola,” Satter states in the Dec. 12 letter. “To date, Motorola has consistently expressed a desire to modify substantive terms negotiated during the competitive procurement and agreed to by Motorola in its BAFO [best and final offer], including termination for convenience. Moreover, Motorola has represented to Department personnel that those terms are ‘deal breakers.’
“The Department will enter into a contract with Motorola that includes all substantive terms and conditions negotiated during the competitive procurement. The Department is requesting that Motorola work toward the finalization of a contract for execution by Friday, December 20, 2019, so that the Department and the state of Florida can move forward with the new System.
“If the Department and Motorola are unable to finalize and execute a contract by the date above, the Department will move forward with the evaluation of other options to procure a next-generation system.”
That Dec. 20 deadline was extended to Dec. 31, based on Satter’s Dec. 23 letter to Brown.
Florida DMS included a “termination for convenience” language in its procurement documents, making acceptance of the language a condition of a qualified bid. Motorola Solutions representatives were reminded of the condition last year, when Administrative Law Judge Bruce Culpepper recommended dismissal of a procurement protest by Harris in favor of the Motorola Solutions bid.
“This [termination-for-convenience] provision authorizes the Department [DMS] the right to terminate the SLERS contract for any reason, or no reason whatsoever,” according to Culpepper’s opinion. “One example of how the Department might cancel the contract ‘for convenience’ would be if the Legislature determined that the state no longer needed, or wanted, the SLERS. The Termination for Convenience clause would allow the Department to terminate its agreement without incurring any financial obligation.”
Exactly what the state of Florida will do next is uncertain. Extending the current SLERS deal with L3Harris would appear to be one consideration, even if a deal with Motorola Solutions can be reached. However, it is unclear how long the state of Florida would be comfortable having first responders continue to use the older EDACS technology and how long L3Harris would be willing to support a such a system.
Florida DMS did not respond to inquiries from seeking clarification about the technology that would be used in the “next-generation system” that Satter’s letter indicated the state would procure if a contract for the proposed SLERS P25 system was not completed by Dec. 31.
While P25 is considered to be the LMR standard for public-safety communications in North America, the technology is not new, as the technology’s roots can be traced back to an APCO project that was initiated in the late 1980s. In contrast, LTE-based technologies like push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC) services and mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT)—the 3GPP standard that is supposed to be available to FirstNet users by the end of March—are much newer, but they are unproven in mission-critical, public-safety scenarios. |
