The Project 25 Technology Interest Group (PTIG) is pleased to announce our latest "P25 System of the Month" New Mexico Digital Trunked Radio System (NM-DTRS)

Author: Michael Rohrbacher – Director of Public Safety Communications
New Mexico Department of Information Technology

The full report can be downloaded using the link below:

New Mexico Digital Trunked Radio System (DTRS)

The State of New Mexico Department of Information Technology currently operates and maintains public safety radio communications for over 50 state, local, tribal, and federal agencies. The NM-DTRS (Digital Trunked Radio System), is a unified platform for public safety communications.

The Department of Information Technology opted to deploy an entirely new state-wide radio system based on the Project 25 standard. The decision to utilize Project 25 was made for many reasons:
• Project 25 is a proven technology and widely supported.
• Project 25 provides a vendor-agnostic platform for user radios, which allows agencies to have a choice of manufacturers and promotes competition in the marketplace.
• Project 25 compatible hardware is eligible for grant funding in New Mexico.
• Project 25 continues to evolve and support new features.
• Project 25 provides the opportunity for a high level of interoperability between partner agencies.

Notable multi-agency events that rely on DTRS for communications:
• Albuquerque International Ballon Fiesta
• New Mexico State Fair
• Presidential visits
• Major law enforcement incidents in the Albuquerque area coordinated with state, local and federal agencies
• Zozobra Festival in Santa Fe

An Open Invitation to all Government and Public Safety Communications Users

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency  (CISA) and SAFECOM/National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) invite you to join the Project 25 (P25) User Needs Working Group (UNWG). Your real world experience and input is needed to shape what the user community expects from P25.  Help set priorities and resolve interoperability challenges with the P25 Standards and other public safety communications technologies.

Membership

• UNWG membership is open to employees of public safety or government agencies with a role in public safety communications
• For more information or to join the UNWG, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Read more about the UNWG in the P25 UNWG Fact Sheet

See our latest Whitepaper:

Link Layer Authentication (LLA) and Link Layer Encryption (LLE): Are You Really Secure?

Additional Products under development

• Global Positioning System White Paper
• Updating the Statement of P25 User Needs (SPUN) to include references to LLA/LLE
• Planning development of LLA/LLE educational video in 2023
• Land Mobile Radio (LMR) in the Cloud document development

P25 UNWG Co-Chairs

Brad Stoddard

Director of Michigan’s Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) and the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC)

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Scott Wright

Sr. Telecommunications Engineer II, State of Connecticut and the Co-SWIC

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The Project 25 Technology Interest Group (PTIG) held it’s 2023 Annual Meeting on Thursday September 28th.

The meeting was presided over by: Cindy Cast, Chair PTIG, and Radio Systems Manager- Miami Dade County Florida, Stephen Nichols, Executive Director, Project 25 Technology Interest Group, and Cheryl Giggetts, Treasurer PTIG, and Principal- CTA Consultants.

A Board of Directors and slate of Officers were elected including some returning members and five new members from the P25 Community.

The Officers for the coming 2023-2024 year include: Chair: Brad Stoddard Director of Michigan’s Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) and the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC); Vice Chair: Jim Holthaus, USDOJ; Treasurer: Cheryl Giggetts, Principal, CTA Consultants; Secretary: Andy Davis, Motorola Solutions, Chair TIA TR-8.

Incoming New PTIG Board Members Include: Geoff Spring, University of Melbourne Australia; Michael Rohrbacher, Director of Public Safety Communications, State of New Mexico Department of Information Technology; Tom Bretthauer, Data Systems Manager at Office of Information Technology, Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS) in Ohio; Rajit Jhaver, Director of Operations, Federal Engineering; Mitch Urbanczyk, Senior Vice President of Sales, JVC Kenwood/EFJI.

Returning PTIG Board Members Include: Ron Williscroft, City of Winnipeg, Canada; Siralal Mallawa Arachchi, Principal Technical Advisor, New Zealand Police, Nina Koshinski, Chief, Radio Applications & Networks, P25 System Administrator & Program Manager: Pennsylvania State Police; Ed Latimer, Marketing Program Manager, Viavi Solutions; Dave Collett, IT Manager-Public Safety, State of Nebraska; Michael Schafer, President, Compliance Testing; Nick Pennance, Chief Revenue Officer, Tait; Robert Kwapisz, LMR Solutions Manager, Zetron; Rich Cagle, Chief Growth Officer, Mission Critical Partners; Brandon Diemer BLM NIFC; John Richards, Director of Radio Operations, State of Maine; Scott Wright, Sr. Telecommunications Engineer and Co-SWIC, State of Connecticut; Justin Evans, Radio Systems manager, Montgomery County TX; Sonia Kendall, US Coast Guard; Doug Chapman, VP Business Development, Etherstack; Robin Grier, President, Catalyst; Dominick Arcuri, Subject matter Expert,Televate; Jeremy Elder, Director, Product Line Managment, L3Harris.

A number of PTIG Board Members retired this year including: Cindy Cast (PTIG Chair), Miami Dade County FL; Rick Schmahl, Ohio MARCS Program Director and SWIC, State of Ohio; Mark Ketchum Broken Arrow OK; Amy Lawrence, Marketing Program Manager, Viavi Solutions; Karthik Rangarajan, JVC Kenwood EFJI. They are recognized and thanked for their years of loyal participation and service to P25 and PTIG.

PTIG welcomed three new Commercial Members over the past year. Prism IPX, Byne (Brazil), SkyMira, and Omnitronics (Australia) all joined the group.

Commenting on the previous year’s activities, Stephen Nichols, PTIG Director stated:
“Renewed growth and interest for Project 25 was in strong evidence over the last year. Website activity was up over 46% from the previous year and PTIG offered “standing room only” P25 panel presentations at both IWCE and APCO conferences. New and existing P25 Systems are growing rapidly with a grand total for P25 Conventional and Trunked Systems at 3,605. Project 25 technology remains the defacto Standard for Public Safety LMR Communications in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.”

“Our Mission continues with the development and sharing of information about P25 Standards, Benefits, Applications, and Market. Thanks go to our member companies and P25 agency representatives for their continued loyal support and participation. The primary focus during the past year has been to offer a broad library of information and updates on the P25 Standards including the latest new applications & benefits to Public Safety and government. In addition, to reinforce the need for continued funding and development for P25”.

The Project 25 Technology Interest Group meets via web MS Teams Meeting on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:30 PM Eastern. If you would like to become a member, contact Stephen Nichols: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Project 25 Technology Interest Group has published the latest list of P25 Conventional Systems.

The full list can be downloaded using the link below:

P25 Conventional Systems List October 2023

The P25 Conventional Systems List was last published in 2020 with 1,816 Systems. The new October 2023 list shows a significant 31% increase with 571 new systems identified for a total of 2,387 P25 Conventional Systems. When this total is added to PTIG’s separate list of 1,218 P25 Trunking Systems, the grand total for P25 Conventional and Trunked stands at 3,605 known P25 Systems.

The new Conventional list is organized by State and Territory and each system is Identified with a System Name. The frequency band is included and systems are divided into purely P25 digital or “Mixed mode” P25 digital and analog systems. In addition, the type of user or agency is noted.
VHF dominates the frequency bands in use with 69% of the systems. UHF follows with 21% 700/800 systems make up the remaining 10% of the total systems. Purely Digital systems are 62% of the total and Mixed Mode (Digital + Analog) are the other 38%. This is a significant change from the 2017 list where Pure P25 digital and Mixed mode were split 50/50.

The P25 User categories are led by Law Enforcement with 43% of the Systems. Then Federal at 22%, followed by Public Safety at 19% and Fire at 8% Finally, Military and Public Works make up the remaining user groups with 4% each.