AUGUSTA – Over the next five years, Maine’s public safety radio systems, from state police to forest rangers, as well as the radio systems of other state agencies, will be replaced with a new network estimated to cost just over $49 million.

Under the current aging, patchwork communication system, troopers cannot always talk with headquarters, other troopers or rescue and fire personnel.

“This will bring us into compliance with federal [Homeland Security] requirements and do it for far less than some of the plans that were proposed earlier,” Richard Thompson, the state’s chief information officer told members of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee during deliberations over the weekend. Thompson has been leading a multiagency group developing the plan.

Lawmakers on the appropriations panel approved lease purchase agreements of $10 million a year as part of the two-year supplemental state budget they voted on at close to midnight Monday. The full Legislature will vote on the supplemental budget later this week.

The Maine State Police have identified at least another $3 million for the project that is available in grants through various federal programs.

“We are planning on $13 million in expenditures in the first year,” Thompson said. “We need to get a good start upfront on building this.”

The original consultant’s report recommended a complex UHF, or ultrahigh frequency, radio system that would have cost more than $200 million to build and would have served only state needs. The system authorized in the supplemental budget would enhance and build on an existing VHF, or very high frequency, system, with new equipment being phased in over five years and with a capability to accommodate local and county agencies.

Col. Craig Poulin, chief of the Maine State Police, said New Hampshire upgraded its communication system and it caused serious interference problems with the antiquated Maine radio system all along the border. Maine’s system was built in 1974 and is so out of date that technicians have to fabricate replacement components that no longer are made by the manufacturer.

“I don’t want to understate the importance of replacing the radio network,” he said. “It is critical to the state police. I could go on for hours about the problems of radios not working when they are needed.”

Poulin said people do not understand how important the radio networks are until they dial 911 for help and they don’t get the police or sheriff responding to their call. He said there are times with the current “antiquated” network that troopers cannot communicate with headquarters or other troopers or police agencies.

The state now operates a wide array of radio systems, many that cannot directly communicate with other systems. In addition to the public safety agencies, the Department of Transportation, the Maine Turnpike Authority and the Department of Conservation all operate separate systems with different equipment and tower locations.

“Interoperability is a key issue for us and for homeland security,” said Art Cleaves, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency. “We need to have a system that allows all of the responders to a scene, a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, to communicate.”

MEMA, which handles much of the federal Department of Homeland Security funding that comes into the state, has been calling for a new public safety radio system since a summit held in Bangor in 2002 identified emergency communications as a top priority.

Thompson said interoperability and flexibility are integral to the proposed system. He said in the first phase of the project the state would seek to consolidate the number of towers required. He said a clear example is in the Union area of Knox County.

“We have three different towers from three different agencies,” Thompson said. “The Public Safety tower is in need of significant repairs and this will allow us to consolidate on one new tower.”

Thompson said the radio network will be engineered to allow for use by others including local and county agencies. He said there also have been “encouraging” discussions with some private cell phone companies about co-locating cell towers with the state’s network towers to reduce both construction and operational costs.