DynCorp, ArrayComm team to pursue government work

DynCorp, Reston Va., has signed a partnership with wireless antenna technology provider ArrayComm Inc., San Jose Calif., to explore how to use the company's smart antenna technology for government voice and data applications.


DynCorp subsidiary DynCorp Systems & Solutions LLC is investigating how ArrayComm's broadband wireless data technology can work for government markets, particularly public safety, said Daryl Solomonson, senior vice president of business development at DynCorp Systems. DynCorp sees a $300 billion market in the upcoming years for voice and data cellular services for the government, he said.


Pete Himmelberger, senior vice president and chief technology officer for DynCorp Systems, said ArrayComm's mobile broadband wireless Internet access system, called I-Burst, can serve as a possible way to offer high-bandwidth, wireless data coverage at a competitive cost.


"What interested us was the ability to deliver much higher bandwidth at much greater distance with a little more inherent security than the other technologies out there," Himmelberger said.


One wireless services contract DynCorp is pursuing is the Justice Department's Wireless Network, a $1.6 billion deal to replace the department's land mobile network by 2005. The request for proposal for that contract is due in August.


Solomonson said broadband wireless data delivery may not be required for this contract, but "since Sept. 11, Justice and other response organizations are seeing the need for voice, data and video in wireless communications," he said. "We're out there trying to position ourselves for this marketplace."


Solomonson said the two companies are exploring ways the technology can be deployed. Other possible opportunities for the technology might include state and national forestry offices, which can allow field workers to download geological mapping, and law enforcement agencies, which can use wireless broadband systems to instantaneously relay crime scene data such as video, pictures, fingerprints and witness statements back to headquarters.


According to ArrayComm, its "smart antenna technology," called IntelliCell, can be used to transfer rates up to one megabit per second per user to hundreds of user in each cell, even in a fully loaded network.

The technology, which uses Internet protocol, is installed in more than 100,000 cellular base stations worldwide, mostly in Asia, according to Nitin Shah, executive vice president of business development and strategy for ArrayComm.


Founded in 1992, ArrayComm has more than 200 patents or pending patents for information technologies. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Martin Cooper was one of the initial developers of the cellular phone and worked at Motorola for 29 years in both business and research executive positions.

A private company, ArrayComm doesn't release revenue figures. Investors in the company include Sony Corp. of America, New York and Nichimen Corp., Tokyo. It employs approximately 170 people.