The technology and communication provider Harris Corp. has announced its contender in a market the Department of Homeland Security is pushing private industry to invest in: handheld interoperable emergency communications,

Just two months ago, DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate said it wants companies to find ways to allow local, state and federal law enforcement and emergency officers to talk to one another, and that’s exactly what Unity, its new family of multiband software-defined radios does, Harris said Friday.

“It’s come to our attention that interoperability remains a critical problem in the public safety sector,” said Kevin Kane, director of business development for Harris’ Radio Frequency Communications Division. “The state of the art in that market today is single band radios and that’s driving a lot of the interoperability problems. Multiband can be a key enabler in that field. This is a radio that’s about the same size as a conventional, high-end, single-band radio today, and it’s essentially the same cost. This really would take the place of three or four radios that you don’t have to carry and don’t have to buy, so I think it’s operationally and fiscally a pretty attractive value proposition.”

The first model available for sale, the XG-100, communicates over public safety frequency bands from 136 to 870 megahertz and is fully compliant with the Project 25 emergency responder communications standard, Harris said. The unit will make its public debut at next week’s Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials in Kansas City, Mo. It is scheduled to begin field trials near the end of the year and begin shipping in 2009.

“The Unity XG-100 is an advanced multiband radio that will provide public safety personnel with direct communications interoperability whenever and wherever necessary,” said Harris Radio Frequency Communications President Dana Mehnert. “As a result, federal, state and local first-responders will be able to unify their efforts and provide a better, more coordinated response to emergencies.”

Harris, a major player in the tactical radio market, said it is following one of its core corporate strategies by expanding into the adjacent market of emergency communications. In that market, where companies, notably Motorola, have already established their dominance, Harris does not yet have a significant foothold. But Kane said the company is using technology already refined in the harshest conditions, which should give it an advantage.

“It is very cost-competitive and it is very mature,” he said. “It has been proven in very difficult conditions, military conditions around the world.” He said the XG-100 can also carve out a new niche, serving “transition customers.” If a police department wants to switch from an older, VHF radio system to something more sophisticated, it may be stuck in the position making its VHF equipment obsolete. But the XG-100 can communicate with both new and older technology, Kane said.

The XG-100’s capabilities and its military pedigree puts it in line to directly compete with another entrant in the emerging handheld interoperable radio market. Earlier this year, Thales Communications unveiled its Liberty multiband radio, a civilian version of its military Joint Tactical Radio Systems that was partially funded with a $6 million development award from the Science and Technology Directorate. The radio is now undergoing demonstrations and pilot programs across the country.

Both Harris’ and Thales’ models allow for usage of the newly available 700 MHz frequency band.

Kane acknowledged Thales as a competitor and said others will likely emerge.

“There will be other players that will try to address this interoperability challenge,” he said. “Our view is that Harris has the broadest technology in this. We have succeeded in our market through an intense focus in serving the end users, the most reliable customer service and products.”

According to George W. Foresman, former DHS undersecretary for National Protection and Programs, companies tackling the multiband challenge could be the beginning of the end of the era of police officers wearing three radios and a cell phone on their belts.

“I think they are going to begin the transformation of the public safety communications market,” said Foresman.

Foresman said he specifically avoided the word “revolution.”

The change will be slow, he said, because billions in emergency communications have already been spent on present-day, limited-access equipment, and the change to interoperable solutions will cost billions more. But, he said, the predicted transformation would be the realization of what local, state and federal agencies want.

“The evolution of business, the evolution of public policy has brought us here,” he said.

The transformation won’t be limited to the way police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians talk to each other, Foresman said — it will extend to the business model of the communications market.

DHS has said that for years, companies developed proprietary technology that limited interagency communication. Now, Foresman said, with some companies adopting the concept of interoperability, others will have to follow, making their own solutions interoperable.

Foresman said Harris approached him as part of its “stakeholder outreach” to get his opinion on the XG-100, but added that he does not have any formal relationship with the company and was not paid.

“I don’t care who makes money from this,” he said. “What I want to see is interoperable communications.”

Thales has said the Liberty radio will cost about $4,000 to $6,000 per unit. Kane said the XG-100 should go for under $5,000 per unit, depending on quantity of purchase. Both figures are close to the range of today’s high-end single-band radios. Foresman said in the current emergency communications market, that’s “exceptionally competitive.”

“The days of $2,500 handheld radios are gone,” he said.

Rob Margetta can be reached at rmargetta@cq.com.