Motorola wins $90 million Australian mobile network deal

Motorola Inc. has won a five-year, $90 million contract from Victoria, Australia, to provide an integrated public safety mobile data network, the company announced today.

Under the contract, Motorola of Schaumberg, Ill., will provide a mobile data network that will enable the state's public safety agencies to share information and communicate more effectively.

In the first phase of the project, Motorola will outfit 700 Victoria police vehicles and 310 ambulances, the company said. In addition, the company will install communications software applications at every police station and provide key links for police and ambulance from regional and central headquarters.

The interactive system will enable police and paramedics to access the network via touch-screen computers in their vehicles that will be linked to centralized Victoria police and city ambulance service databases and dispatch hubs.

The communications system is expected to boost response capabilities and reduce paperwork for police and paramedics, said Andre Haermeyer, Victoria's police and emergency services minister.

"The Mobile Data Network will significantly reduce response times and allow police and paramedics to arrive at emergencies and crime scenes better briefed than ever before," he said.

The contract also will enable the state to extend the benefits of the mobile data network to other emergency services and provide a growth and development plan for technological enhancements, he said.

Motorola, a provider of integrated communications and information solutions, has more than 111,000 employees and had annual revenue of $27.3 billion in 2002.