Feb 1, 2006 10:58 AM, By Donny Jackson

ORLANDO--M/A-COM yesterday announced that its P25 product offering has broadened to include 700 MHz trunked solution in multisite and simulcast configurations.

“The announcement is important for us in that it means we now have a complete portfolio at both bands [700 MHz and 800 MHz],” said John Facella, M/A-COM’s director of public-safety markets. “No other vendor can offer as many choices to customers.”

Existing M/A-COM system customers can upgrade to the 700 MHz and simulcast features, but costs will vary depending on the location and model of base stations in the system, among other factors, Facella said.

“The important thing is that there is a migration path from EDACS, and it’s not a forklift,” he said.

Although TV broadcasters continue to utilize the 700 MHz band to transmit analog signals in some markets, public-safety entities can use the frequencies in markets where there is no risk of channel interference with a broadcast station. Public safety will be able to access the 700 MHz band nationwide in February 2009 if Congress approves budget-reduction legislation as expected.

“With these new offerings, P25 users can fully realize the benefits of M/A-COM’s powerful VIDA platform of IP-based radio communications solutions, which allow the integration of the state-of-the-art P25 system with a high-capacity OpenSky TDMA network, a feature-rich EDACS system and NetworkFirst IP-based interoperability,” Ron Bender, M/A-COM’s director of systems products, said in a prepared statement.

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