Manitoba's Finance Minister says additional towers are needed in southeastern Manitoba to expand coverage for the province's emergency communications system.

Cameron Friesen says the province is looking for proposals to replace an emergency communications system that is obsolete. Friesen notes this isn't 911 but rather the FleetNet system used in vehicles by a number of groups including EMS, police and fire.

"This is the radio systems we use in vehicles to communicate in case of emergency," explains Friesen.

The government signalled its intent to move forward as quickly as possible, by outsourcing the process to acquire a replacement service through a qualified, independent third party. He notes FleetNet, the province's public safety mobile system, is 26 years old and has reached the end of its service life.

According to Friesen, replacement parts for the system have not been manufactured since 2003 and warnings were issued to the former government as early as 2008 that equipment would no longer be built or supported.

Friesen notes the proposal will include requirements for a modern digital encrypted communications system that meets current technical standards. It will also include requirements for deployment on a radio frequency reserved for public safety and public service use. And, additional towers are needed to expand coverage in currently underserviced areas.

"A few years ago when we had some very significant grass fires burning in the southeast of the province, there were some instances that arose where we could not communicate to firefighters and volunteers who were helping us," recalls Friesen. "There were some near misses, that concerns us."

Friesen says he is concerned that there continue to be incidents of degraded and failed service.

"We're making some investments in the meantime, to make sure that we have a system that can function," says Friesen. "Then we're making that overall investment to make sure that we're going to have confidence in this system for EMS, for RCMP, for local police, for local fire and for the government users of the system."

According to Friesen, it is too early to put a cost on this project. He notes they are working with experts to develop a process to solicit bids. As for the timeline, he would like it completed as soon as possible. Though he says in reality, it will take time to get such a big project advertised. He adds there is a sustainability plan in place to ensure coverage during the time it takes to replace the system.