Icom 9000 F70 Series Overview
As Reported in Icom America’s Newsletter - March 2011
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For People Who Make Smart Choices
Icom Wins NYC Transit Order for Close To
9000 F70 Series Radios
As part of their goal to build a “state-of-
the-art communication-based signal system
to replace the mechanical signals dating to
1904,” NYC Transit is now using a custom
system of more than 8,800 Icom F70 radios
to manage fleet-wide communications across
their train, subway and bus system.
With 47,000 employees working a net-
work that covers more than 5,000 square
miles, and using 734 train stations, efficient
communication is the lifeblood of a system
that 8 million passengers in all five New York
boroughs and surrounding counties each
day.
The RFP went out last year, and the
competition was tough, but the requirements
were even tougher.
“NYC Transit needed nearly 9,000 radios,
each customized for the operator who was
using it,” reports Chris Lougee, Vice President
of Icom America Inc. “Beyond that, they
needed things like custom firmware, custom
circuit boards that could be swapped, a
database allowing them to track every radio
and even engraving on the hardware itself. All
of which they wanted to be able to maintain
themselves and train people on, which meant
the winning bid would also be creating train-
ing manuals and teaching NYC Transit’s own
technicians how to physically maintain the
hardware.”
In December 2010, Icom delivered 8,825
of these highly customized packages to
NYC Transit. Each package contained: an
engraved radio, belt clip, antenna, charger,
extra extended life battery, noise cancelling
speaker microphone, adjustable shoulder
strap, and a user manual. All the equipment
is intrinsically safe, each serial number is part
of a customized database enabling them
to track each radio and all of them include
safety features like a man-down function.
And, as requested, Icom will be training NYC
Transit’s technicians to repair the radios, as
well as providing spare parts and 300 printed
circuit boards for swapping.
“This is what we do, it’s what makes
Icom special,” explains Lougee. “We are
a big enough company that we can deliver
top-of-the-line equipment at a competitive
price. But we’re also nimble enough that
we can customize any aspect of an order
to meet a client’s unique needs. Further,
because so many of our operations are do-
mestic, we have relationships with vendors
who can do everything from engraving to
custom leather carrying cases. That’s what
makes us different.”
ia
“Because of our relationships and
attention to detail, we’ve seen clients
create systems that seemed out of
their reach just a short time ago.
It’s very rewarding for us to be able
to do this.”
— Chris Lougee, Icom America
Vice President