Lawmakers question SBInet delays

The first nine towers of the Homeland Security Department’s Secure Border Initiative Network surveillance system missed a June 13 deadline for initiating operation due to a radar problem, according to House lawmakers monitoring the high-profile project.Live operation of the first 28-mile section in Arizona, dubbed Project 28, also is expected to be delayed beyond a second deadline of June 20 due to problems with electronically integrating the nine towers, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) wrote in a letter today to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. The towers are equipped with radar, cameras and communication networks that must be linked to function as a system.
(Federal Computer Week story; DHS SBI Web site)