Justice wireless net approaches the starting gate

• By Wilson P. Dizard III
• Jan 21, 2005

The Justice Department will choose from among five vendor teams to build the $10 billion Integrated Wireless Network.

Justice's procurement services staff is acting on behalf of the IWN Program Office, which also includes the Treasury and Homeland Security departments as principal participants.

Last month, the government picked teams led by AT&T Corp., Boeing Co., General Dynamics Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Motorola Inc.

The IWN request for proposals released this month calls for vendor teams to describe how they would replace the government's patchwork of law enforcement radio systems with a seamless voice and data network.

The three departments also want IWN to let federal law enforcement officials link wirelessly with state and local counterparts.