News

Independent panel seeks answers

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY GLENN BISCHOFF

An independent panel convened by the FCC met for the second time last month in Jackson, Miss., to discuss the lessons that have been learned in the aftermath...

TA releases coverage testing guidelines

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DONNY JACKSON

After almost a year of questions regarding drive tests, the 800 MHz Transition Administrator finally released its official guidance on coverage testing...

Muni Wi-Fi could cause headaches

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

Municipalities nationwide, including Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., have announced plans to build citywide, public, open-access...

Anritsu microwave measurement unit names vice president

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

Anritsu announced the appointment of Donn Mulder to the position of vice president and general manager of the company's Microwave Measurement Division....

Tugboat company uses real-time wireless video to track fleet

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

Homeland Integrated Security Systems completed the installation of its Cyber Tracker technology for Rentrop Tugs, a tugboat company that operates along...

Mississippi to deploy text-based alert system

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Donny Jackson

Mississippi emergency responders soon will be able to send text messages via an alert network utilizing FM radio signals built by Global Security Systems,...

Broadband communications helps Midwestern police department access data

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

WaveRider Communications announced that the Indianola, Iowa, Police Department has deployed the company's MMT9000 mobile data terminals to establish mobile...

Meru, Catalyst combine on enterprise IP voice and data

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

Meru Networks and Catalyst Telecom announced an agreement through which Catalyst will distribute Meru's wireless voice-over-IP and data portfolio including...

Texas city opts for MotoMesh

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Donny Jackson

Motorola announced that the city of Plano, Texas, would deploy its MotoMesh and Canopy backhaul solutions to establish a mobility corridor that is designed...

Illinois' second largest city welcomes municipal Wi-Fi network

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

SkyPilot Networks and MetroFi have been retained to build a metro-scale Wi-Fi network for Aurora, Ill., the second-largest city in the state. The mixed-use...

Alaska agency to field test RFID, GPS technologies

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

The Alaska Department of Commerce has partnered with radio frequency identification solutions vendor Franwell on a pilot study that will field test RFID...

NENA releases report on next-gen E911

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Donny Jackson

As IP-based technologies become the norm, the 911 system must be overhauled to handle a variety of communication forms, according to a report released...

State highway officials contract with RadioSoft for frequency coordination

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

RadioSoft announced it has received a contract from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials to enhance the association's mobile...

APCO honors public-safety communications leaders

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials named Harlin McEwen, chairman of the International Association of Chiefs of Police communications...

IEEE selects basis for mesh networking spec

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

The IEEE 802.11 working group said it has confirmed a single proposal that will serve as the basis for its 802.11s standard, which will provide an interoperable...

Rio Rancho offers free access to Wi-Fi system

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

Residents of Rio Rancho, N.M., will be able to access the citywide Wi-Fi network for free after the city council voted to change the terms of its agreement...

Municipal Wi-Fi to cover 126,000 square miles by 2010

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

An ABIReseach report said that by 2010, municipal Wi-Fi networks will cover 126,000 square miles internationally most of which will be in the North American...

Pol: Cities need stronger first responder communications

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

In testimony on behalf of the National League of Cities, Rob Drake, mayor of Portland suburb Beaverton, Ore., told a House subcomittee on emergency preparedness...

Padcom lands contract with Ohio public-safety network

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

Mobile virtual private network software vendor Padcom announced that Ohio MARCS (multi-agency radio communications system) has selected the company's...

Products

Motorola intros mobile VPN

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY GLENN BISCHOFF

Motorola introduced a Windows-based, mobile virtual private network solution developed specifically for public-safety and government users dubbed Multi-Net...

Articles

Forward motion

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GLENN BISCHOFF gbischoff@primediabusiness.com

While channel surfing the other night, I happened upon the NFL Network. I normally keep right on going, as I am not much of a football fan. But on this...

The LMR industry matters once again

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DAVID P. STOREY, RELM WIRELESS CORP.

It wasn't so long ago that the public at large had mostly forgotten our industry, which generally was beyond their awareness and off the radar screen....

Thanks to the voices of public-safety

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY WANDA McCARLEY, APCO

There is no shortage of issues that APCO is addressing right now. As APCO's president, I am focused on understanding and addressing these critical issues....

Airborne-transceiver idea ready to fly

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY LYNNETTE LUNA

Helium-filled balloons outfitted with wireless repeaters could be the answer to better voice and data coverage in rural and underserved areas, beefed-up...

Fleet owners turn to DirectConnect

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DOUG MOHNEY

Fleet operators, especially taxi and livery services, are migrating to commercial push-to-talk, or P2T, services and away from traditional voice-only...

Drive-test surveys back in spotlight

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY JAY M. JACOBSMEYER, P.E.

The ongoing reconfiguration of the 800 MHz band, i.e., rebanding, has created renewed interest in the drive-test survey. Rebanding requires modifications...

Pot of gold or fool's gold?

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY MERRILL DOUGLAS

As public-safety agencies approach the first stages of 800 MHz rebanding, companies that sell and service mobile radio systems are looking to the future....

Public safety deserves better

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY GLENN BISCHOFF

Morgan O'Brien, the founder and former chairman of Nextel Communications, presided over the growth of a wireless company that started small but eventually...

Trailblazers

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY DONNY JACKSON

Since Hurricane Katrina, emergency responders' need for reliable and interoperable communications systems again has become a top priority in Washington,...

Support needed to protect the future

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY ALAN TILLES

The recent announcement of the AT&T/BellSouth merger once again proves the vision of Yogi Berra its d vu all over again. We're getting very close to the...