M/A-Com nabs Va. regional mobile radio deal

M/A-Com has won a $1.3 million contract from Albemarle County, Charlottesville and the University of Virginia to provide an interoperable mobile data communications system, the company announced this week.

M/A-Com of Lowell, Mass., will deploy an interoperable mobile data communications system for the emergency communications center that coordinates police, fire and emergency medical services for the county, city and university.

M/A-Com's subcontractors on the are Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif.; Fatpot Technologies Inc., Bountiful, Utah; and Panasonic Computer Solutions Co., Secaucus, N.J.

The company's Internet protocol-based system, known as OpenSky, piggybacks with the emergency communications center's current voice system, eliminating the need to install new antenna systems or purchase battery backup and backhaul equipment, the company said.

The system will operate out of four sites and will be connected to the county's network switching center, which tracks mobile data computers as they roam between sites and routes IP packets to the appropriate site. The switching center also includes a network manager to monitor the health of the system and configure system elements.

M/A-Com provides communications systems and equipment for public safety, utility, federal and commercial sectors. It is a unit of Tyco International Ltd. of Princeton, N.J. The company has about 260,000 employees and annual sales of $40 billio