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City of Paris Two-way Radio Communication Issues There is some background information needed to fully understand the issues the city two- way radio system is facing. Radio Bands Two way radio transmissions are grouped into `bands'. Primarily VHF (Very High Frequency 30 MHz- 300 MHz) and UHF (Ultra High Frequency 300 MHz - 3000MHz) They are different bands of the Electromagnetic Spectrum. Each band has different abilities which can influence what application the radio with that band is used for. `Narrow-Banding' For many years there was a`separation' of 25 KHz between frequencies used by two way radios. Due to the increased use of available radio frequencies, the Federal Communications Commission published an order which required several changes. These changes included: all two-way radio equipment sold after January 1, 2011 to be `narrow band' capable or a separation of frequencies by 12.5 KHz, required all licensees to submit applications for narrow band frequencies and migrate to the narrowband technology by January 1, 2013. By moving the frequencies closer together, more frequencies were opened for use. Analog vs. Digital Mode As a technology, analog is the process of taking an audio or video signal (in most cases, the human voice) and translating it into electronic pulses. Digital on the other hand is breaking the signal into a binary format where the audio or video data is represented by a series of "1"s and "0"s and transmitted as `packets'. Homeland Security Funding Ever since the terrorist attacks of 2001, communications has been a focal point of response to disasters not to mention the day to day operations of emergency services along with all government departments. Unfortunately, the first issue in response to a disaster is the ability to communicate and coordinate a response from many different disciplines that usually have independent radio systems. It is a well-established fact that the police and fire departments of New York city could not communicate and that issue most probably added to the loss of life. 50