Council committee OKs emergency radio upgrade

Philadelphia is closer to getting an improved emergency radio system.

A City Council committee yesterday voted in favor of extending the city's current contract with Motorola Corp. for four years for $34.5 million. The measure now awaits a vote by the full Council.

Though costly, the upgrade is necessary because of the current system's unreliability for the police officers and firefighters who use it, city officials said. Councilman Frank Rizzo, the most outspoken critic of the current system and its failures, was absent at the hearing of the Public Property and Public Works Committee.

Councilman Bill Green questioned why there was no request for proposals to replace the current Motorola system, saying that might have led to a cheaper alternative. Administration officials responded that issuing an RFP now could delay necessary improvements to the system by a year or more. The current contract expires in June 2010, but if approved by Council in the next few weeks, upgrades would begin in July or August this year. - Marcia Gelbart