Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Awards Cassidian Communications Contract for P25 Land Mobile Radio System

• Cassidian Communications to provide the city of Lexington, Ky., and Blue Grass Airport with state-of-the-art, digital COR^P25 Land Mobile Radio solution for public safety communications
• Lexington begins to unify public safety communications with the interoperable COR^P25 network
• Open COR^P25 network communicates with fireground and university networks running on different technologies

FRISCO, Texas--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Cassidian Communications, an EADS North America company, announced today that it has finalized an agreement with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to provide a digital, trunked P25 Land Mobile Radio (LMR) system for public safety communications in Lexington, Ky. The new 800 MHz simulcast COR^P25 radio network is expected to be fully deployed by the end of 2012, and will provide mission critical communications to the Lexington Police Department and the Lexington Blue Grass Airport. The full COR^P25 solution includes hardware, software, system engineering, installation, optimization and onsite maintenance.

“With the new CORP25 LMR network from Cassidian Communications, we have the means to immediately share information with our colleagues, respond with a common understanding of the situation, and lay the foundation for the next level of unified public safety communications.”

Selected to replace Lexington’s existing mission critical radio system, the standards-based COR^P25 network will provide broader radio coverage across the urban county’s 285 square-mile metropolitan area, as well as full interoperability with the Lexington Fire Department and the University of Kentucky—two entities that operate on different radio technologies right now, but are expected to join the COR^P25 system within the next 12-24 months.

“We were looking for a radio communications solution that would meet several different needs, improved coverage throughout the area, seamless communications within and across different networks, and compliance with a rapidly approaching narrowbanding deadline,” said Robert Stack, assistant police chief, Lexington Division of Police. “The COR^P25 solution fits the bill perfectly by ensuring the performance and coverage we require, interoperable communications for all of our emergency responders, and a system that can grow and adapt as the industry evolves.”

“In today’s public safety environment, it is imperative that those of us in the business of keeping our communities safe have the tools to quickly and reliably communicate with each other in a crisis,” said Scott Lanter, chief and director of public safety, Lexington Blue Grass Airport. “With the new COR^P25 LMR network from Cassidian Communications, we have the means to immediately share information with our colleagues, respond with a common understanding of the situation, and lay the foundation for the next level of unified public safety communications.”

The industry’s only true non-proprietary P25 solution, the COR^P25 system has an open design that enables full interoperability and supports true choice in both vendors and hardware allowing agencies to select best-in-class components from a variety of different vendors. This flexible approach enables competitive purchasing, and lets customers build their networks with the best equipment for the best price, ultimately lowering the total cost of network ownership. The IP-based COR^P25 radio solution also enables cost-effective migration to future applications and services.

“Lexington has been utilizing our public safety 9-1-1 call processing and emergency notification solutions for over 10 years, and we are excited to now have our open COR^P25 LMR solution selected to round out the public safety communications mix,” said Rich Cagle, vice president of sales, Cassidian Communications Land Mobile Radio. “We take great pride in the fact that we have the technology and expertise to deliver a radio network that will meet Lexington’s performance and interoperability requirements, and at the same time, offer a flexible procurement approach that can save money both initially and for the life of the system.”

Cassidian Communications continues to serve clients ranging from public safety operations to Fortune 1000 corporations to federal agencies. Collectively, the company has more than 40 years of experience deploying 9-1-1 call processing solutions, notification solutions and first-responder digital trunked radio networks.

About Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (www.lexingtonky.gov)

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) was formed in 1974 upon the merger of the old Lexington and Fayette County governments and is the second largest city in Kentucky with a population currently estimated to exceed 300,000 people. Lexington’s jurisdiction covers 285 square miles and encompasses a central urban core, large suburban area and rural farmland. Lexington is well-known for manufacturing, as well as the breeding and sale of Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. Lexington is home to the University of Kentucky.

About Cassidian Communications (www.CassidianCommunications.com)

As the largest and most trusted source of mission critical communications solutions, Cassidian Communications, an EADS North America company, is leading the way in standards-based NG9-1-1 call center applications, notification solutions and services, and P25 land mobile radio systems.

About EADS North America (www.eadsnorthamerica.com)

EADS North America is the U.S.-based operation of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defense, and related services. EADS contributes more than $12 billion to the U.S. economy annually and supports over 220,000 American jobs through its network of suppliers. EADS North America, headquartered in Herndon, Va., offers a broad array of advanced solutions to meet U.S. military and commercial requirements, including fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, homeland security systems, public safety communications, defense electronics and avionics, and threat detection systems.