Washington Gas Selects Harris Corporation's VIDA Network for Multi-State Communications System
August 17 2009 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Internet Protocol-based Network to Integrate Multiple Wireless
Sites in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia to
Power Mission-Critical Communications for One of the Nation's
Largest Utilities LAS VEGAS and BOSTON, Aug. 17
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS), an
international communications and information technology company,
has been selected by Washington Gas to provide a VIDA (Voice,
Interoperability, Data, Access) network to provide seamless and
reliable land mobile radio (LMR) communications for the utility's
multi-state sites. Washington Gas directly delivers natural gas to
more than one million residential, commercial and industrial
customers throughout Washington, D.C., and in parts of Virginia and
Maryland. The IP-based network will integrate a 20-site, 900MHz
OpenSky system serving the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia
portions of the service territory and a four-site VHF P25 system
that will cover a small portion of the Virginia area. "This new
integrated wireless network is intended to maximize the use of our
available assets, and enable our personnel in multiple states to
communicate quickly, safely and reliably, ensuring that our
customers will continue to receive the high level of support and
customer service they have come to expect from us," said Mike
Marsters, manager, Gas Supply Operations at Washington Gas. "In
addition, the much larger OpenSky portion of the network is
data-ready to meet our data communication needs in the future. We
are anxious to take advantage of the capabilities and related
benefits that this technology has demonstrated throughout North
America." The new wireless network allows the utility to create
talkgroups of unlimited size and affords the ability to configure
radios, site equipment and other components from anywhere on the
utility's secure IP WAN. The system fully supports both voice and
data messages, is GPS-capable, and allows for over-the-air
programming (OTAP) of radios. 900MHz OpenSky uses two-slot TDMA
technology on the licensed 12.5KHz channels, providing considerably
more integrated voice and data capacity than afforded by analog or
other digital systems. In addition, OpenSky networks are based on
the widely-accepted IS-732 protocol to support mobile applications
with end-to-end TCP/IP connectivity, simplifying
application-to-network integration. The 4-site VHF portion of the
network uses standard P25 digital technology. VHF is used in the
far northwest portion of the territory because of its better
coverage in that more mountainous terrain. "Unique to Harris is the
VIDA network's ability to seamlessly integrate the P25 sites with
the OpenSky sites, even across large and diverse terrain.
Washington Gas' new radio system will meet the communication needs
of the company, while providing an infrastructure that is forward
and backward compatible, scalable and flexible," said Tom Hoyne,
director, Utility Markets, Harris Public Safety and Professional
Communications. Harris Public Safety and Professional
Communications is a leading supplier of assured communications
systems and equipment for public safety, federal, utility,
commercial and transportation markets, with products ranging from
the most advanced IP voice and data networks, to industry leading
multiband, multimode radios, to public safety-grade broadband video
and data solutions. With more than 80 years of experience, Harris
supports over 500 systems around the world. About Harris
Corporation Harris is an international communications and
information technology company serving government and commercial
markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne,
Florida, the company has approximately $5 billion of annual revenue
and 15,000 employees -- including nearly 7,000 engineers and
scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured
communications products, systems, and services. Additional
information about Harris Corporation is available at
http://www.harris.com/. . DATASOURCE: Harris Corporation CONTACT:
Steve Frackleton, Public Safety & Professional Communications,
+1-434-455-9501, , or Jim Burke, Corporate Headquarters,
+1-321-727-9131, , both of Harris Corporation Web Site:
http://www.harris.com/
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