July 29, 2010

Motorola to Build a 700 MHz LTE Network for San Francisco Public Safety

The Enterprise Mobility Solutions business of Motorola and the Public Safety Agencies within the San Francisco Bay Area have entered an agreement to build a 700 MHz LTE system.  As part of the Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications System (BayRICS) plan, the system will serve multiple agencies across the greater bay area, including San Francisco, Alameda County/Oakland, Contra Costa County, as well as the cities of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.  This broadband system provides an overlay to the existing Project 25 standards based IP cores and networks.

The Public Safety LTE system will be installed this year and is expected to be operational in early 2011. This first phase includes an LTE core, 10 sites and 330 Motorola Public Safety LTE user modems to provide Bay Area responders access to a host of media rich applications delivered over the new broadband network for increased public safety information sharing.

“This agreement represents a first step in realizing the BayRICS vision for a unified, state-of-the-art, mission critical voice and broadband multimedia network,” said Laura Phillips, general manager of the Bay Area UASI, in a statement. “Combining a Public Safety hardened LTE overlay network with our Project25 voice and data networks, we have the opportunity to equip our first responders with the advanced communications tools they need to better protect themselves and our communities.”