Communications International wins Fla. county radio deal

Neither wind, nor rain, nor devastating storm will disrupt first-responder communications in Flagler County, Fla., during the next hurricane season.

Communications International Inc. of Vero Beach, Fla., has won a $10 million contract from Flagler County to install a new interoperable public safety radio communications system that company officials say will work in many disaster and emergency situations.

The five-site, seven-channel, 800 MHz digital trunked-radio communications system offers interoperability with Florida's Statewide Law Enforcement Radio system, as well as adjoining counties, including Volusia and Palm Coast. Installation work began in August and is scheduled for completion at the end of June, according to a company statement.

Communications International will install M/A-Com Inc.'s Enhanced Digital Access Communications System. The radio system has unique architecture that ensures uninterrupted operation. The system carries voice and data on a single platform to provide wide-area network operations.

Flagler County's new system also will include Lowell, Mass.-based M/A-Com's P25 functionality, which meets the National Telecommunications and Information Administration mandate and also satisfies the Defense Department's policy for P25 compliance, meeting both network-level and over-the-air radio level interoperability.

The new system will also include Digital Encryption Speech level encryption, a symmetric block cipher that processes 64-bit blocks in four different modes of operation.

The system requires development of two tower sites, both in Bunnell, Fla. Four additional towers will be built at existing locations throughout the county.

Communications International offers critical radio communications services to government, public safety, utility, industrial and commercial customers. The company also is a partner with M/A-Com on other radio system projects.