Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Northumbria Police Put Motorola TETRA Radios to the Test

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 07 Apr 2003 22:39:43 -0400

04/03/2003 06:09:17 AM GMT

Northumbria Police Put Motorola TETRA Radios to the Test

After tough testing, Northumbria Police choose Motorola handsets

BAPCO Conference, LONDON, UK, April 2, 2003. — Following a series of demanding
tests, including
technical and specification analysis and operational trials, Northumbria Police
has chosen
Motorola’s MTP700 second-generation TETRA (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio)
hand-portable radios for
operational use on the Airwave network. The MTP700 units will be fulfilled
through NTL as the
managed service partner for Northumbria Police.

The force started enjoying the benefits of the new technology in November 2002.
Officers in the
rural and often remote areas of the county were the first operational sector to
use the network
and radios, as these are the areas that traditionally present communication
problems. The
feedback, regarding both the Airwave network and the handset, has been very
positive with
officers impressed with the clarity and range of the new system especially in
the remote areas
they cover. More than 4,000 hand-portable radios will be in use by the end of
2003 when the
rollout is complete throughout the county.

Testing during the pre-contract evaluation stage included ”scenario tests”,
designed to
demonstrate the benefits of the radios and promote confidence in them from the
force. The
MTP700 radios were used in a number of realistic staged incidents that embraced
as many aspects
of complex policing demands placed on Northumbria’s officers as possible. These
included; a
multiple vehicle road accident, a missing person search in a remote forest and a
light aircraft
crash involving the co-ordination of ground searches by the dog section, the
tactical support
group and air support from the force’s helicopter.

Each scenario lasted one day and included training on the radios, a briefing on
the scenario
and the event itself. Although the officers were new to the radios, they found
it simple to
operate the radio’s menus and controls. After the first scenario, a multiple
vehicle accident
in a rural area, officers described the radios as “crystal clear,” “can get in
where you
couldn’t before” and “300% better than the old radio”.

Gary Maughan, Business Director, UK Public Safety Terminals, Motorola, who
attended the
scenarios, commented: “We have worked closely with the Police throughout the
process of the
evaluation and testing, listening to their feedback and also making some
suggestions of our
own. This partnership approach has been very successful. ”

The tests confirmed the important role a radio plays in a variety of policing
environments and
the MTP700 was proven to have reliability in the front line, audio clarity and
operational
simplicity – all of which are important factors when choosing a radio. For
Northumbria Police,
the ability to use the radios in rural areas is particularly important, so the
combination of
an optimised antenna and high receiver sensitivity along with telephone
interconnect features
meant users would be in touch and in command.

Michael Craik, Deputy Chief Constable, Northumbria Police, who has overall
responsibility for
the forces’ implementation of the Airwave project said: “I have been delighted
at the way in
which, through a strong partnership, we have managed the introduction of our new
radios. This
has involved close contact and trust between my project team, Motorola, NTL,
Airwave and
operational officers representing a number of specialist groups.”

About Motorola
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated
communications and
embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2002 were $26.7 billion. Motorola is a
global corporate
citizen dedicated to ethical business practices and pioneering important
technologies that make
things smarter and life better for people, honoured traditions that began when
the company was
founded 75 years ago this year. For more information, please visit:
www.motorola.com

About TETRA
The Airwave service uses TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA), a new open digital
trunked radio
standard which is defined by the European Telecommunications Standardisation
Institute (ETSI)
to meet the needs of the most demanding professional mobile radio users.

About NTL
NTL’s Public Safety group is the UK’s largest provider of radio communications
managed services
and third-party maintenance. Customers include the emergency services and a wide
range of
public and private sector organisations whose core business relies on exacting
levels of
performance, resilience and availability from their communications systems.

# # #

Media Contacts:
Suzanne McDermott
Motorola EMEA
Tel: +44 (0)1256 484 505
Email : [email-masked]

Bruce Randall
NTL
Tel: +44 (0) 1962 822582
Email: [email-masked]

For more information visit:

Motorola TETRA: http://www.motorola.com/tetra
TETRA MoU: http://www.tetramou.com
Motorola Internet Media Centre: www.motorola.com/mediacenter

Photography is available at:
http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/graphics/list/0,1099,44-1,00.html

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