Mary Rose Roberts
Mary Rose Roberts is the associate editor of Urgent Communications, formerly Mobile Radio Technology magazine. She can be reached at maryrose.roberts@penton.com
ANNAPOLIS, MD – October 28, 2008 – TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NasdaqGM: TSYS), a leading provider of mission-critical wireless communications, today announced that it has received an additional $9.7 million of funding from the U.S. Army to provide additional Secure Internet Protocol Router (SIPR) and Non-secure Internet Protocol Router (NIPR) Access Point (SNAP) Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Satellite Systems. This is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command (CECOM LCMC) order that was announced in August, with a potential value of $246 million, and brings SNAP funding to date to $36 million.
It is the third increment of SNAP funding for TCS’ highly reliable SwiftLink® deployable communications products. The U.S. Army Project Manager for the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (PM WIN-T) Commercial Satellite Terminal Program (CSTP) is funding these procurements through the Army’s $5 billion World-Wide Satellite Systems (WWSS) contract vehicle.
The SNAP program includes options for approximately 1,500 terminals and supporting equipment to be deployed in various sizes and configurations over the next few years, along with up to 30 field support personnel. The company’s 2007 investments in capacity for integration, testing, and deployment of its SwiftLink and wireless point-to-point deliverables assure timely delivery on large volume orders that meet customer expectations.
“Our SwiftLink SNAP solution is the newest and most capable VSAT deployable system available to the Department of Defense,” said Michael Bristol, senior vice president of government solutions for TCS. “The rapid pace of these funding increments demonstrates TCS’ proven record of providing our customers with robust, scalable systems, and we expect this demand to continue.”
The TCS SwiftLink VSAT systems used to fulfill SNAP program requirements provide multimedia communications capabilities which convey encrypted voice, video and imagery data. TCS SwiftLink products are highly transportable and ruggedized, with a graphical user interface that facilitates easy set-up and operation. The modularity and “plug and play” interfaces between all RF and Baseband configurations inherent in the SwiftLink product line result in communication solutions tailored to the end-user’s specific needs.
TCS has established a proven track record over the past decade of providing highly specialized solutions to the Department of Defense, Special Operations and Intelligence Communities, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. The TCS SwiftLink product line meets the critical communications demands of this elite customer set, no matter where or how they deploy.
About TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NasdaqGM: TSYS) engineers and delivers highly reliable wireless communications technology. TCS is a leader in wireless text messaging and location-based technology, including E9-1-1 services and commercial applications like navigation that use the precise location of a wireless device, and secure satellite-based communications systems and services. Customers include leading wireless and VoIP carriers around the world, cable MSOs, automotive telematics vendors, and agencies of the U.S. Departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security. TCS is one of six primary vendors on a $5 billion Army Worldwide Satellite Systems Contract vehicle. For more information, visit www.telecomsys.com.
RICHARDSON, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Enfora, a leading global supplier of intelligent wireless networking solutions, today announced that its Enabler® wireless solution family has been selected by meter manufacturer Elecktromed for use in water, electricity and gas applications. Elektromed, based in Turkey, is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of advanced metering devices supplying over 5 million devices every year.
Enfora’s Enabler series of intelligent embedded platforms provides support for multiple access protocols and includes GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad band solutions that are GCF/PTCRB certified. The Enabler’s integrated IP communications functionality enhances device performance while shortening the overall development cycle. Furthermore, the Enabler’s embedded software environment, including a programmable rules engine, a network router, and advanced control and automation capabilities, can simplify the communication, operation and remote management of devices. With integrated IP functionality and support for multiple access protocols, the Enabler platform can be used to address multiple markets and geographies with a single design.
Commenting on this agreement, Kemal Altun, Elektromed’s international marketing manager, said: “Through our agreement with Enfora and our access to the Enabler platform, we will be able to address new markets in the United States, Europe and Asia, helping us to retain our reputation as one of the world’s largest intelligent meter suppliers.”
“Automated meter reading (AMR) for utilities is a growing and key vertical market sector for Enfora,” said Christian Galle, Enfora’s business development manager for EMEA. “We are delighted to have established this relationship with Elektromed, one of the leading meter manufacturers.”
About Enfora
Enfora is a leading provider of wireless networking solutions that enable enterprises to access, analyze and leverage information from their geographically dispersed assets. Our solutions, consisting of embedded wireless software, network edge wireless platforms – embedded and integrated – and enterprise software, are based on our distributed intelligent architecture that provides a valuable link between an enterprise and its remote assets. Enterprises deploy our solutions for location-based, monitoring and control, and asset management applications. For more information, please visit www.enfora.com.
RadioMobile’s IQ Mobile provides fleet owners, managers, and end users with improved efficiency in mobile data management.
IQ Mobile provides mobile messaging and status updating while seamlessly interfacing with applications such as CAD, mapping, AVL, and RMS. Additionally; it provides the fundamental engine for conducting law enforcement queries such as NCIC, NLETS, and many others.
RadioMobile’s IQ Map application, which can also serve as a stand-alone product, is an integrated feature of IQ Mobile. Through a central control, a “certified” position can be placed on the map showing the unit where to go. As the mobile moves, current position is updated every second, and the map rotates as vehicle direction changes.
The touch screen interface showcases clearly defined buttons that are not only easy to read, but also add increased utility. Multiple day and night color combinations allow users to set screens for better readability and increased safety at night. Multiple sound selections are available to notify users of alerts.
IQ Mobile is optimized for all network efficiencies including mobile satellite and can be used in conjunction with other RadioMobile hardware, software, and networking products for a complete mobile data solution.
RadioMobile is a provider of affordable end-to-end mobile wireless network solutions for public safety, emergency medical, transportation and industrial customers. RadioMobile is a division of RF Industries (NASDAQ RFIL), a leading supplier of telecommunications and medical cable products through its company divisions. For additional information call 800-233-1728 or 858-549-6340. You can also e-mail: towens@radiomobile.com or visit our web site at www.radiomobile¬¬¬.com
VIERA, FL—Oct. 28, 2008— SkyCross, a global antenna solutions company, announced that its antennas power the Samsung SWC-E100 ExpressCard, the first client device for the recent WiMAX launch in Baltimore. The WiMAX service, provided through the XOHM division of Sprint Nextel, delivers much anticipated 4G mobile broadband service across the city.
The WIMAX standard requires multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) operation, meaning each device must include multiple resonators. Placement and interference issues can make this a tricky engineering challenge in sleek mobile devices such as the SWC-E100. However, experienced engineers at SkyCross optimize small antennas on a system level to provide faster data rates for users and maximum coverage for network operators.
Independent tests prove the superior link performance provided by WiMAX antennas from SkyCross. Brian Nadel, Freelance Writer and former Editor in Chief of Mobile Computing & Communications magazine, confirmed that the SWC-E100 “works like a charm for accessing the network” in his recent Computerworld article.1 Mr. Nadel’s tests were conducted while stationary as well as at highway speeds.
This announcement follows a series of important milestones since SkyCross launched its WiMAX product line in November 2006. Last quarter, SkyCross antennas were recognized for their performance in the first USB device certified by the WiMAX Forum. SkyCross is also the exclusive provider of isolated mode antenna technology (iMAT), which enables a single structure to behave like multiple, high-performance antennas. Perfectly suited for the MIMO requirement of WiMAX, iMAT received recognition from FierceWireless, Portable Design, and EE Times.
“Our job is to provide device manufacturers with unique antenna solutions that will not only meet network operators’ requirements but also provide an extra level of differentiated performance,” said Joe Gifford, Executive Vice President of SkyCross. “The SWC-E100 demonstrates that SkyCross solves technical challenges while satisfying time-to-market pressures of both Samsung and Sprint. As Sprint combines XOHM assets with Clearwire, we look forward to providing additional antenna products for the network.”
1Nadel, Brian. “Sprint’s 4G Xohm WiMAX: How fast is it?” Computerworld, Oct. 10, 2008.
About SkyCross
SkyCross (www.skycross.com) is a global wireless company providing antenna-centric RF solutions to the mobile phone, home entertainment, and computing industries. SkyCross provides high-performance, frequency-agile, protocol-independent antenna technology bundled with RF system-level expertise and responsive regional support. This convenient approach empowers device manufacturers to develop winning consumer electronics products and deliver them to market faster and easier. Founded in 2000, SkyCross is ISO 9001 certified and supports customers from its full-service facilities in the USA, South Korea, and China.
(Covington, LA - October 14, 2008) Tusa Consulting Services II, LLC (TCS), a leading provider of public safety radio consulting services, is pleased to announce its award of a General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule Contract. Under the five year contract, TCS will be listed as a preferred government approved vendor and can provide communications consulting specializing in private and public safety land-mobile and microwave radio technology to federal, state and local governments. TCS’s contract number, GS-10F-0370U, is effective through September 2013. On line access to contract ordering information is available through GSA Advantage™! at http://www.GSAAdvantage.gov.
“We’re very happy to have the contract” commented Dominic (Nick) Tusa. “We have been providing our expertise, knowledge, and guidance to private and public safety agencies since the day our doors opened. This contract will allow our consultants to further support federal, state and municipal government agencies, and we’re thrilled to do so.” In order to receive this contract, the General Services Administration thoroughly evaluated a number of criteria including TCS’s professional capabilities, corporate structure, performance history, and customer satisfaction. TCS was able to meet and exceed each of the GSA’s demanding requirements to receive this much sought after award.
TCS has worked to develop radio communication solutions tailored to stringent public safety expectations. TCS is committed to providing unsurpassed professional guidance and technical support in the design and implementation of highly reliable radio communication and dispatch facilities as used by federal public safety agencies. Formed in 1992, TCS has assisted clients in fielding complex simulcast and multisite trunked/conventional radio networks using analog and digital (Project-25) technologies. Today, TCS is providing innovative solutions tailored to assist clients in meeting critical FCC-ordered bandwidth reduction objectives for those radio networks operable below 512MHz.
The firm’s personnel have the experience and demonstrated ability to thoroughly analyze, evaluate and recommend conceptual radio network and dispatch center alternatives and user-centric solutions. And since several staff personnel have prior work experience in managing municipal radio service departments, TCS can develop sound maintenance plans that assure mission-critical radio networks remain operational and reliable, always.
For more information, please visit our website: www.tusaconsulting.com
Bethesda, Md., U.S. and Wellingborough, U.K. – Oct. 22, 2008 – Iridium Satellite LLC and Sarantel (AIM: SLG) announce that the Sarantel PowerHelix antenna technology was selected for, and is being built into, the just-released Iridium 9555 handset.
Sarantel develops and manufactures some of the world’s most advanced miniature filtering antennas for mobile, wireless and handheld devices. Iridium is a pioneer in the satellite communications industry and is the only mobile satellite services (MSS) company offering truly global, pole-to-pole coverage.
The Iridium 9555 represents a dramatic step forward in innovation and usability for handsets in the MSS sector. Users will benefit from a host of innovative features, such as a brighter screen, a speaker phone, short messaging service (SMS) and email capabilities, an upgraded mini-USB data port, an internal antenna and significantly reduced form factor. It is also programmable in 14 languages.
“The ability of Iridium to reduce the antenna size, without sacrificing performance, was a critical design element for this revolutionary new handset,” said David Schoen, chief technology officer, Iridium. “Sarantel responded to our challenge by providing Iridium with a highly innovative, technically advanced design for the 9555 antenna. They proved to be a superb technology partner, producing a creative, cost-effective and performance-driven solution.”
David Wither, chief executive of Sarantel, said, “We are honored that Iridium selected us to supply the antenna for the 9555. Up until now, the most significant challenge for satellite phone makers has been finding an antenna small enough to make their product attractive while obtaining high enough performance to meet stringent link margin requirements. The pioneering work Sarantel is doing with antenna technology now means that, for the first time, users can benefit from high performance in a small handheld satellite phone package, like Iridium’s innovative new 9555.”
About Iridium Satellite
Iridium Satellite LLC (www.iridium.com) is the only MSS company offering pole-to-pole coverage over the entire globe. The Iridium constellation of low-earth orbiting (LEO), cross-linked satellites provides critical voice and data services for areas not served by other communication networks. Iridium’s subscriber growth has been driven by increasing demand for reliable, secure, global communications. Iridium serves commercial markets through a worldwide network of hundreds of distributors, and provides services to the U.S. Department of Defense, and other U.S. and international government agencies. The company’s customers represent a broad spectrum of industry, including maritime, aeronautical, government/defense, public safety, utilities, oil/gas, mining, forestry, heavy equipment and transportation. Iridium has launched a major development program for its next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT, which will result in continued and new Iridium MSS offerings. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Md. and is privately held.
About Sarantel
Sarantel (www.sarantel.com) is a leader in the design of high-performance miniature antennas for portable wireless applications, including handheld navigation, satellite radio and laptop computers. Sarantel’s revolutionary ceramic filtering antennas offer dramatically improved performance over existing antenna designs, resulting in a clearer signal, better range and 90 percent reduction in the amount of signal radiation absorbed by the body. Because of their smaller size and higher capabilities, Sarantel’s antennas enable manufacturers to create innovative high-volume consumer products incorporating technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, GPRS, satellite radio and Bluetooth.
La Jolla, Calif. – October 21, 2008 – Blue Sky Network, a leading global provider of mobile asset management and fleet management solutions using GPS tracking, today announced that Bond Offshore Helicopters Ltd. selected Blue Sky Network’s solution to provide GPS flight following, text and voice capabilities aboard its current fleet of ten AS332L2/EC225’ based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Using the solution, Bond Offshore ground operations staff can easily constantly monitor the position of all their aircraft and in addition communicate via text or voice when required for operational reasons.
Now equipped with the Blue Sky Network D1000C, Bond Offshore is able to use GPS to track aircraft in near-real time and receive quick position reporting to help best manage its fleet. Additionally, with the ACH1000, flightcrew have voice and two-way messaging capabilities, allowing them to directly communicate with company personnel through their headsets.
“The majority of our business is in support of the Oil and Gas industry, and Blue Sky Network’s solution allows us to best monitor and manage from a flight following perspective this area of our business,” says Malcolm Paine, Director of Operations, for Bond Offshore. “It is a great comfort knowing we can constantly monitor the position of our aircraft at any given time, which during 1st quarter 2009 is becoming a legal requirement under the Air Navigation Order within the UK and communicate with our flightcrew when required without interfering with the safe operation of the flight.”
“Blue Sky Network is excited to be working with such a well established and highly respected offshore operator. Our capabilities are a solid match with its services,” says Carlton Van Putten, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Blue Sky Network. “Bond Offshore is a choice provider and we are pleased to help the company best serve its customers.”
About Blue Sky Network
Blue Sky Network is a leading global provider of voice and data services via the Iridium satellite network. Our aviation, marine and vehicle products for GPS tracking, real time flight tracking and fleet management provide reliable fleet tracking and communication services. Blue Sky Network’s solutions serve the Aviation, Oil and Gas, Government, Forestry, Mining, Supply Chain Management and Intermodal Transportation markets. Founded in 2001, Blue Sky Network is headquartered in La Jolla, California with customers and distributors worldwide. For more information about our company and solutions, visit the Blue Sky Network website at www.blueskynetwork.com.
The Telex Dispatch systems at the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management (installed by BearCom) ensured seamless emergency services communications for the evacuation and monitoring of the area during Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Though the EOC’s infrastructure took a beating during the hurricane, including serious storm surge, the Telex equipment kept working.
The Galveston County EOC need an extremely reliable Radio IP system, as their facility becomes the routing hub for all communications from regional emergency services to federal agencies during extreme weather situations like Hurricane Ike.
“We selected a Telex Radio IP system as a solution for our emergency management and interoperability radio communications needs,” says Lee Lockwood, Operations Coordinator at the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management. “Through the combined efforts of the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management and the Galveston County Emergency Communication District, we not only implemented an in-house dispatch console system but also a countywide link to the VHF/UHF interoperability frequencies for all PSAP’s.
“Since all PSAP’s in Galveston County are connected via a fiber network, we have extended the capabilities to them as well,” adds Lockwood. “By installing IP-223s at the remote locations and integrating them into their existing consoles (from various manufacturers) using tone remote, they now have access to any/all RF resources in our facility.”
“Now every workstation in our EOC has a C-Soft console. During Ike, we communicated with the various cities, counties, public safety agencies, and state/federal departments that came in to support our operations. Cross-band patching was utilized and was a huge success. Several of the PSAP facilities in Galveston County are not built to withstand extreme high winds and storm surge. Therefore, several of them transfer their E911 and radio communications to our Sheriff’s Department. Our Sheriff’s Department moves their dispatching operations here to the Emergency Management Facility as well, since our building is a CAT5 storm-resistant structure. This meant that at some points during Hurricane Ike we were dispatching for over 15 public safety agencies, all using Telex IP223’s and C-Soft. Telex IP-223 systems are housed in the main emergency management facility, connected to various radios and repeaters for two-way radio communications. These transceivers are accessible via the C-Soft applications installed on all PCs in the emergency operations center, for use by personnel during large scale events like Hurricane Ike.
“The response from the PSAP’s regarding this equipment has been so positive that some are even considering upgrading to the C-Soft software in their locations and doing away with existing consoles,” Lockwood adds, “and since the project began, the agency that was considering upgrading to the Telex system has already ordered the software and several IP-223s for their dispatch center. We have also deployed the C-Soft application with several IP-223s in our mobile operations trailer using 900Mhz and 4.9Ghz wireless connectivity back to the primary location.”
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