Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Utah Communications Agency Network I met with the executive board of the Utah Communications Agency Network for 4 1/2 hours yesterday.  UCAN provides 800 MHz trunked radio service to over 100 state and local agencies in Utah.  With so many agencies involved, the governance can be real tricky and there have been a number of rumors being proliferated that needed to be dispelled.  UCAN provides the most advanced, integrated component of UWIN and the Omnilink that ties together the other networks resides at the VECC facilility where UCAN is located.  The board voted yesterday to reduce the state rate by $2 per radio per month.  One of the rumors suggests that the state is working on an IP radio system that would completely replace UCAN in the short term.  That would be a mistake, but I do feel that it is important to continue to review technology to see how we can improve the way we operate.  The UCAN infrastructure is a valuable asset for both state and local members of UCAN and should be leveraged along with other public communications infrastructure operated by ITS and UEN to maximize benefits to the citizens and government agencies throughout the state. The FCC is expanding the availability of funds for telemedicine.  I hope we can take advantage of this to benefit the Utah Telehealth Network while expanding the cooperative efforts of UTN with other network infrastructure providers. 8:56:09 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 David Fletcher.