News Archives

Regional Radio System Planned

March 3 , 2008

The Public Safety Communications Board has taken a big step toward giving emergency personnel the ability to connect anywhere within the area and eventually to the Kansas and Missouri state systems.

In October, MARC’s Board of Directors approved the formation of a governance board for the Metropolitan Area Regional Radio System. This “system of systems” will allow public safety officials in the MARC region to communicate with ease in situations where multiple agencies respond to an emergency incident.

Independence, Mo.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Johnson County, Kan., will serve as hosts and invest in new local radio systems upon which the regional system will be built. Other agencies will be able to connect to the consortium of 700 MHz and 800 MHz radio systems.

Cost-sharing of operation and maintenance expenses will allow agencies of all sizes to participate while not over-burdening the system hosts. The project will be funded through local government and federal grant funds.

The governing board for the regional radio system will consist of a management council and several committees to protect the interests of both host and user agencies and to handle technical issues in the system. MARC is in the process of identifying potential members for the new board.