Mobile Assets Provide Secure Inter-Agency Communications and Situational Awareness Over Dedicated First Responder Network
PHILADELPHIA – September 29, 2015 – Oceus, Inc., the market leader in delivering agile and innovative mobile solutions, announced today that its JerseyNet solution successfully supported the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia. The solution was deployed by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and the New Jersey State Police to enable secure communications and live streaming security video during the historic visit by Pope Francis for the World Meeting of Families. JerseyNet provides a dedicated, mobile 4G LTE broadband network to share voice, video and data between first responders. Because this is a private network – not shared with the general public – there is low risk of congestion and the performance limitations that commercial networks might experience during large public events such as this, where more than 1 million people gathered to participate.
“Oceus was pleased to play a role in ensuring the success of the Papal visit by enabling live streaming security video and direct communications throughout the public safety community. This dedicated interoperable solution connected multiple agencies in Band 14 spectrum in ways that would have not been possible over commercial networks due to the size of the local crowds,” said Randy Fuerst, president and chief executive officer for Oceus.
Oceus integrated the solution that bridged existing Land Mobile Radio (LMR) push-to-talk networks with the LTE network to deliver a much more complete picture over the entire event for public safety. The infrastructure consisted of four (4) Oceus Systems on Wheels (SOWs), MobilePro cameras, Hughes satellite (for backup network connectivity), and Mutualink as the main interoperable communication application connected to Sonim XP7 ultra-rugged Android smartphones. The Oceus SOWs, which included two (2) deployable trailers with 60 foot high masts, an SUV and a van, established the mobile LTE responder network for the event. They were positioned to ensure public safety communications and connect Pennsylvania State Police, Camden County Public Safety, New Jersey State Police, Philadelphia Police Department, NJ Transit, the NJ Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC), and other participating State and Federal partners. The entire system was linked together by Fujitsu’s GX 4000 E-Band radio and supported by PMC Associates.
The event demonstrated the flexibility of this network approach, connecting temporary deployed network sites and rapidly moveable assets in Philadelphia to fixed network sites in New Jersey to deliver a new capability to first responders. Oceus, PMC Associates and Fujitsu Network Communications were awarded the NJ State contract to build JerseyNet – the first all deployable network in the country sponsored by FirstNet. JerseyNet provides dedicated broadband service for responders in three (3) regional LTE rings in Passaic County (Paterson), Atlantic City and Camden, NJ. The mobile nature of these network nodes, under the direction of Fred Scalera, Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, enabled New Jersey to assist with the Papal visit by deploying four (4) of its reserve systems connected to JerseyNet. Guaranteed broadband access to public safety teams for large scale events and disasters is ground-breaking. The increased capabilities provided by JerseyNet demonstrated the value of dedicated broadband solutions and the promise that FirstNet holds for all first responders.
About PMC Associates
PMC Associates is a family owned, NJ based Public Safety communications integrator that was founded in 1988. The company provides innovative solutions to the Public Safety, Education, Transportation, and Utility sectors in NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, and VA. For more information visit www.PMC-Wireless.com.
About Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc.
Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. is a trusted partner to a broad spectrum of customers across all industries, enabling them to realize the maximum value from their communications networks. We are a market-leading US-based manufacturer of network equipment and a top US patent-holder in optical networking. Our solutions combine the best wireline, wireless, and software technology with extensive multivendor services expertise to deliver custom, end-to-end network integration and management solutions. For more information, please see: http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom, connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu-network-communications, and follow us on Twitter @FujitsuFNC.