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TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications
New York City Wireless Network
Among New York City's mission-critical business goals is the administration of public safety, and essential to that goal is superior communications among first responders. New York City has made substantial improvements in communications technology for first responders during the Bloomberg Administration, most recently and significantly with implementation of the New York City Wireless Network.
In March 2004, the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) issued a Request for Proposals aimed at addressing the City's critical need for a high-speed network to provide advanced, interoperable data communications among and across key agencies. After issuing the RFP in March 2004, the City reviewed responses from some of the country's top systems integrators, held vendor presentations, completed exhaustive technical evaluations, and selected two vendors to participate in a pilot program to assess which best demonstrated the ability to meet the City's requirements.
The result of these efforts, announced by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in September, 2006 was the selection of the Northrop Grumman Corporation to build the New York City Wireless Network, or NYCWiN. To build, equip and maintain NYCWiN, and to provide technical support to DoITT, the City awarded Northrop Grumman a five-year, $500 million contract. To help fund network build-out, the City also secured roughly $20 million from the Department of Homeland Security.
The most aggressive commitment by any municipality in the country to provide a next-generation public safety network, NYCWiN will give first responders high-speed data access to support large file transfers, including federal and state anti-crime and anti-terrorism databases, fingerprints, mug shots, city maps, automatic vehicle location, and full-motion streaming video. A fully-interoperable, IP-based network, NYCWiN will enhance coordination by linking first responder personnel, on-scene, with incident managers at remote sites through real-time data and video feeds.
As significant as NYCWiN will be in enhancing public safety, its role in improving the daily delivery of non-emergency City services will also be transformative. NYCWiN will support a range of additional public service applications, providing substantial improvements over existing technologies for the City's mobile workforce by automating and streamlining time-consuming transactions and processes. Through NYCWiN, the City's mobile workforce will have the ability to work from anywhere, at any time, accessing a wealth of data such as agency files, databases, high-resolution photos-or any application otherwise accessible from the worker's office-bound, desktop PC.
Since January 2007, NYCWiN has been operational throughout lower Manhattan-the area below Canal Street, river-to-river-and is now being built throughout the city. Initial launch of the network occurred in April 2008, at which point approximately 70% of the City's police precincts and fire houses were encompassed within the service area. Today, over 80% of the City is included, with full coverage for the city's entire 322 square miles to be achieved by year's end.
In total, NYCWiN will consist of 400 network sites across New York City's five boroughs, managed from two fully-redundant network operation centers (which have already been completed) protected with 24-hour generator backup power, linked via multiple diverse fiber circuits, and staffed around the clock with technical support from the vendor.
Unlike commercial networks, NYCWiN is designed for greater reliability, resiliency and redundancy. It will provide prioritized access for first responder data transfers in the event of an emergency, thereby ensuring the City the ability to manage network traffic, which can otherwise degrade performance.
As it relates to public safety, the network will enhance emergency response, command and control, and situational awareness capabilities by enabling real-time access to vital information. NYCWiN will enable police officers to access real-time photo, warrant, and license plate databases, for the identification of suspects in criminal investigations, and enhance access for detective units to the New York City Police Department's Real Time Crime Center. In addition, mobile cameras can operate on the network and be tied back to existing command centers to support, for example, the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative. NYCWiN can also support wireless emergency call boxes for the public to summon emergency responders when needed.
Through NYCWiN, the Fire Department will be able to establish reliable, wireless connectivity between its Operations Center and responders in the field to transmit on-scene data and full-motion streaming video, and provide remote access to operating procedures, maps and other geographic information.
Another type of application supported by NYCWiN is Automatic Vehicle Location, or AVL technology. This technology has already been installed in nearly 1,100 fire trucks and ambulances citywide-contributing to decreased ambulance response times-and the network will further enhance these systems by providing real-time map and database updates. By also allowing for the expansion of AVL technology to the vehicles of other City agencies, NYCWiN can help attain more efficient fleet management and increased safety for field workers.
In addition, a number of public service agencies will be utilizing NYCWiN to more efficiently conduct inspections and various maintenance activities in the field. In the first citywide rollout of a NYCWiN-supported application, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection announced just this week the award of a contract to acquire advanced Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to improve its water metering system. The $68 million contract will allow DEP to automate its meter reading capabilities and improve customer services for its approximately 831,000 metered points serving nearly eight million people in New York City.
The AMR system consists of small, low-power radio transmitters connected to individual water meters that send daily readings to a network of rooftop receivers throughout the city. In most cases, the transmitters will be placed where meter remote receptacles are currently located. The new technology will be able to send accurate readings to a computerized billing system up to four times a day and will largely eliminate the need for estimated bills. It will also provide DEP with the ability to eventually transition to monthly billing, and it will offer improved water consumption data, which will aid DEP's water conservation and system planning initiatives. Since it is an automated system, AMR also eliminates the need for a meter reader to visit customer properties.
DEP contractors will be providing door-to-door free installations of the AMR transmitters for water customers and will also be replacing some old water meters. Installation will begin in Brooklyn and Queens in October, in the Bronx and Manhattan in November of this year, and Staten Island in 2009.
Contact:
- Nicholas T. Sbordone
- Director of External Affairs
- NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications
- 75 Park Place, 9th Floor
- New York, New York 10007
- (212) 788-6602
- nsbordone@doitt.nyc.gov