The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) made 525 purchase of IT goods throughout 2020, but paid $38,265,468.66 for just its top five most expensive buys — the majority of which came during the year’s first half. Here’s what CalOES spent on those top five, with rounding:
- $12.4 million for “FY 19/20 CAPSNET Conversion Services” with Nokia of America Corp. The expenditure came with a contract of just more than two years, from March 1, 2020 - March 30, 2022. It refers to the state-owned and operated California Public Safety Microwave Network, which is used for “emergency and routine operation communication needs” — but according to a CAPSNET Road Map prepared in 2013, then lacked “the capabilities of a modern network and (needed) to be upgraded.” CAPSNET, a network comprised of more than 300 sites, includes radio communications; remote management of radio equipment and site assets; and emergency telephone service to ensure staff at dispatch or emergency command have services in a disaster when commercial service might flag.
- $12.4 million, also with Nokia, for “CAPSNET Phase Three MPLS Conversion Project,” including “9500MPR Radio and Trans. Eng. Antennas … Rack Equipment Design” and engineering and installation services, plus a “Special One Time Management Incentive Unanticipated Tasks.” This likely refers in part to Multiprotocol Label Switching, a telecoms routing technique, as well as to the 9500-series Microwave Packet Radio; and potentially also to transmission antennas. It’s unclear what the one-time incentive for unanticipated tasks may have been; the contract began Dec. 14 and has no specified end date.
- $5.2 million with Motorola Solutions Inc. for “GTR8000 ESS PHASE II 6 Voice Channels,” under a contract of indeterminate length that began Sept. 24. That’s probably a reference to Motorola’s GTR 8000 Expandable Site Subsystem, which utilizes software-defined architecture to be configurable to individual radio systems.
- $5 million with Directapps Inc. (now Direct Technology), for “ES-T1-MIS ECATS MIS Reporting Year 1,” on a contract of unspecified duration that began May 11. That’s likely a reference to an Emergency Call Tracking System, which usually lets governments to develop actionable intelligence from emergency call data. The state’s use of the company’s older name here could reflect an ongoing relationship; Direct Apps evolved into Direct Technology in 2008, per the company’s website.
- $3.2 million with Allied Network Solutions Inc. for “205-0026 Customer Community Plus Logins,” on a contract that began April 3 and has no specified end date. Among their attributes, Community Plus Logins reportedly offer 1 MB additional storage for login-based licenses and 2 MB additional storage for member-based licenses.
