After years of deferred maintenance and a general lack of concern, Honolulu is making vital upgrades to our first-responders' communication system.

The importance of communication among police, fire and other emergency responders was highlighted during the Sept. 11 tragedy. New York firefighters and police officers couldn't do a simple thing with their existing radio communications systems — talk to each other.

This year, Honolulu made upgrades to ensure our first-responders could talk to one another.

Now, the city is ready to spend at least $22.5 million to revamp its emergency communications, beginning with replacement and repair of first-responder radio towers throughout the island.

It's an absolute necessity, and public money well spent.

Gordon Bruce, head of the city's Department of Information Technology, said O'ahu's 13 primary towers — the backbone of the emergency radio system — are vulnerable to high winds and fire.

The prospect of losing multiple towers, especially during a severe hurricane, would be disastrous. The loss of towers from Koko Head to Makapu'u to Leahi Hospital would mean first-responders in the Hawai'i Kai area would not be able to communicate, Bruce said. Downed multiple towers would be even more dire in rural areas of the North Shore and the Leeward Coast.

When upgrades are completed by 2009, the towers should withstand a Category 4 hurricane (with winds between 135 to 151 mph). But Bruce's vision also includes a technological overhaul by 2014 that will optimize communications between police and fire departments as well as to multiple other agencies, all on one network.

Last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unveiled a survey of its members that revealed that 8 out of 10 cities still didn't have communications between first responders.

Thankfully, Honolulu has opted to invest in upgrades now, rather than pay a much higher price down the road.