[Scan-DC] Open Sky Lower Eastern Shore

Wed, 17 Mar 2004 06:58:08 -0500

Damn,

Just when the state is getting ready to embrace 700MHZ.

Bob Crain

$5.6 Million Project Will Connect Local, State and Federal Agencies
Across
Nine Counties on the Delmarva Peninsula

Lowell, MA, Mar. 4, 2004 - M/A-COM, Inc., a business unit of Tyco
Electronics and a leading manufacturer of critical radio systems
deployed
around the world,
today was awarded a $5.6 million contract from Worcester County,
Maryland to
provide public safety communications connectivity for the Maryland
Eastern
Shore Interoperability Network. (MESIN). MESIN is a network that will
serve
the first responders on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. M/A-COM will
implement
its NetworkFirst solution to connect state, county, and municipal law
enforcement, fire, emergency medical services and the Coast Guard active
along Maryland's
coastline.

Maryland's Eastern Shore encompasses nine counties including Worcester
County, which is host to one of the state's largest tourist areas, Ocean
City, and
takes in more than 3,000,000 visitors between Memorial Day and Labor
Day.
Public safety officials must keep close watch over this traveling
population
and be ready to respond to fires, traffic accidents, and other
tourism-related mishaps in addition to local emergencies. In addition,
the
Eastern Shore's
proximity to the city of Baltimore and Washington D.C. means that
responders
must also be prepared to handle threats or large-scale disasters
affecting
the Baltimore metropolitan area and the National Capital Region.

"To face widely-varied emergency situations on the Eastern Shore, public
safety personnel from multiple agencies, on various disparate systems,
must
be
able to communicate effectively," said Teresa Owens, Director,
Department of
Emergency Services, Worcester County. "With M/A-COM's NetworkFirst,
we're
getting a very powerful tool that will lead to better communications and
improved effectiveness for Maryland Eastern Shore public safety
organizations."

NetworkFirst links together disparate radio system types that use
different
frequency bands by converting audio signals into digital packets of data
that
can then be easily transported over a wide area IP packet-switched
network.
Gateways, routers and a fully redundant switch will be integrated with
existing
Eastern Shore county, municipal, state and federal area communications
systems to enable immediate interoperability between different radios
systems used
in the area. With the new M/A-COM system, law enforcement, fire and
emergency medical services officers and various state and federal
agencies
will finally
be able to communicate seamlessly, while still using their existing
radios.

Maryland relies on a large and varied contingency of public safety
personnel, including law enforcement, and emergency response providers;
all
of whom must
be able to communicate in times of crisis. Because the region currently
has
four different communications systems in place across the nine counties,
interoperability
between radios and tracking equipment has been a major issue. To
facilitate
real-time communications between the various local, state and federal
agencies
on the Eastern Shore, the MESIN project will employ NetworkFirst to
provide
interoperability across the entire region.

"Public safety agencies today constantly wrestle with communications
incompatibility, and vital personnel simply can't reach each other
during
crisis situations,"
says Jane Wargo, Regional Sales Manager, M/A-COM. "Worcester County has
asked us to solve this very problem, and NetworkFirst will be the
solution."

About M/A-COM
M/A-COM, Inc., a business unit of Tyco Electronics, is a leading
supplier of
critical communications systems and equipment for public safety,
utility,
federal
and select commercial markets. Products range from some of the most
advanced
IP-based voice and data networks to traditional wireless systems to
offer
customers the highest levels of reliability, interoperability,
scalability
and security. M/A-COM is also a recognized leader in the design and
manufacture
of radio frequency (RF), microwave and millimeter wave solutions for the
commercial wireless telecommunications, aerospace and defense
industries.
Headquartered
in Lowell, MA, M/A-COM has offices and manufacturing facilities
worldwide.
Information about M/A-COM can be found on the Web at
www.macom.com
or
www.macom-wireless.com.

About Tyco Electronics
Tyco Electronics is one of the major business segments of Tyco
International
Ltd. (NYSE: TYC, LSE: TYI, BSX: TYC). Tyco Electronics is the world's
largest
passive electronic components manufacturer; a world leader in
cutting-edge
wireless, active fiber optic and complete power systems technologies;
and is
also rapidly developing extensive networking and building technology
installation services. Tyco Electronics provides advanced technology
products from
over forty well-known and respected brands, including Agastat,
Alcoswitch,
AMP, AMP NETCONNECT, Buchanan, CII, CoEv, Critchley, Elcon, Elo
TouchSystems,
M/A-COM, Madison Cable, OEG, OneSource Building Technologies, Potter &
Brumfield, Raychem, Schrack, Simel and TDI Batteries.

M/A-COM, Tyco and NetworkFirst are trademarks.

Other products, logos and Company names mentioned herein may be
trademarks
of their respective owners.

###
Editorial Contact:
Dave Hutcheson
M/A-COM, Inc.
978/442-4047
[email protected]

Mike Ratcliff
Tyco Electronics
717-592-2316
[email protected]

For sales information, please contact:
M/A-COM, Inc.
1011 Pawtucket Blvd.
Lowell, MA 01853
United States - 1.800.528.7711
Canada - 1.800.368.3277
Middle East/Africa -- +1.434.455.9229
Asia/Pacific -- +1.434.455.9238
Europe -- +1.434.455.9238
Latin America -- +1.434.455.9236