New York isn’t happy with M/A-Com, a Tyco Electronics subsidiary building a state-wide wireless communications network: The idea was simple at its heart: get all public-safety officials and staff in the state using common equipment and frequencies. A $2b contract was awarded to M/A-Com, which bid $1b less than Motorola. (Of course, Motorola had its own failure in 2007 with a New York Transit wireless system that didn’t work, according to The New York Times.)
M/A-Com disputes the problems, and has sent a lawyer letter threatening to sue. The New York Times account of the timetable, difficulties, and performance make it sound like a fairly one-sided problem. And lawsuits don’t help when you’re not delivering the goods. There’s likely much more to be heard about this, since the Times seems to have state officials as its main source. M/A-Com clearly missed deadlines; the rest could wind up in prolonged litigation. [link via Klaus Ernst]
(On a totally unrelated front, M/A-Com long ago purchased Ohio Scientific Inc, or OSI, one of the first makers of non-hobbyist personal computers. My first computer was an OSI Challenger 1P with a whopping 8K of ROM and 8K of RAM.)
Clarification on Philadelphia’s Usage
Bono to write Op-Ed column for New York Times
(AP)
Atom Feed (xml)