 Service Provider News ReportThis newsletter is sponsored by ShoreTelNetwork World's Service Provider News Report Newsletter, 06/06/07Televate looks to leverage D.C. public safety netBy Carolyn Duffy MarsanTelevate, a McLean, Va. consulting firm, hopes to leverage its experience designing and managing the procurement of a leading-edge broadband wireless network being built in Washington, D.C., to other cities nationwide. Televate is a privately held, 30-person firm with an annual revenue of $5 million. Televate provides interoperable voice and data systems for police, fire and emergency management to government clients in Washington, D.C.; Wisconsin; Florida; Virginia; and New York. Televate is helping Washington, D.C., build a 700MHz broadband wireless network for public safety agencies that is the first network of its kind. The National Capital Region’s Regional Wireless Broadband Network (RWBN) uses commercial equipment and industry standards to save money for the government agencies that will use it.
"We’re innovators in this project, and we hope to replicate this throughout the country," says Joe Ross, a partner and senior executive consultant with Televate. Televate has been involved with Washington, D.C.’s public safety network strategy for years. Televate helped Washington, D.C., design its Wireless Accelerated Response Network, a pilot interoperable data network for city departments and nearby federal agencies. The pilot was so successful that it spawned the development of the RWBN, which Televate helped design and oversee. "We manage the procurement process [for RWBN]," Ross explains. "We helped write the draft request for proposals. We helped evaluate bidders. The eventual awardee was Alcatel Lucent. Now we’re overseeing the deployment." Televate is under contract to the District of Columbia through Telecommunications Development Corp., a small disadvantaged business. "We have equipment installed in Washington, D.C.," Ross says of the RWBN. "We have three sites on the air that are providing service mostly in downtown parts of Washington, D.C., and we are working on solidifying the rest of the sites that will provide citywide service…We expect that the network acceptance of the first phase will be this summer." In other jurisdictions, Televate helps government agencies re-band wireless spectrum for public safety applications. The firm sees great potential in the 700MHz band spectrum that Washington, D.C. is using in the RWBN. "What’s special [about RWBN] is that it uses 700MHz band spectrum that’s already been dedicated to public safety," Ross says. "It’s also using commercial off-the-shelf technology. They’ve been able to get the vendor community very interested in this. Qualcomm has stepped up big and is providing the chip sets that include the 700MHz band. They have made announcements that they are planning to incorporate 700MHz into their products. Then a device that you buy at Circuit City or Best Buy could support the public safety band." Ross says widespread industry support of 700MHz is key for first responders to be able to enjoy the benefits and low costs of modern PDAs. "Public safety officials want to be able to snap a picture at the scene and send it back to headquarters," Ross says. "Everything that a teenager is doing with a cell phone today could be done with the dedicated private safety network of tomorrow affordably. This won’t be some device that costs $6,000." Other cities including San Diego and Chicago have expressed interest in Washington, D.C.’s RWBN. "Several other regions that we are working with are very interested in what Washington, D.C. is doing with 700MHz," Ross says. "We’ll have something up this summer that will show folks that this is real and that it delivers a significant benefit." Ross says the RWBN approach is the best way to provide wireless broadband service to all of the first responders that need to be connected to the latest information in the event of a disaster. "If you look at what governments can afford across the country in terms of cell phone service today, they can’t afford to buy cell phones and pay for the monthly service for every fire fighter and police officer," Ross says. "One of the benefits of building your own network is that it delivers the ability to bring as many users on as you feel you need without incremental costs." Ross says Washington, D.C.’s approach to broadband wireless services will cost less to operate than legacy land mobile radio networks that only provide voice services. "Governments that don’t develop this capability themselves are going to be shackled by the delivery costs of providing data to all of their personnel," Ross says. "Not only is this an important new capability, but it is also important in terms of enabling governments to take control over the major operational costs."
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| Contact the author: Carolyn Duffy Marsan is a senior editor with Network World and covers emerging Internet technologies and standards. Reach her at cmarsan@nww.com This newsletter is sponsored by ShoreTelARCHIVEArchive of the Service Provider News Report Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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