Globalstar Develops Emergency Communications System for Disaster Response

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Using standard cell phones, emergency workers can call via Globalstar to anyone available on the public telephone network. Additionally, workers can call each other within an approximate half-mile radius. Wired telephones can also be plugged into the GENCOMS through standard telephone jacks.

Milpitas CA (SPX) Oct 10, 2005
Globalstar has announced the development of an emergency management communications system consisting of a satellite backhaul network mated to a miniaturized cellular system that allows first responders to communicate with each other, or connect to the public telephone network.

Globalstar satellite phones built into the portable unit give emergency workers access to critical information when land-based communications are unavailable, such as during and after a disaster and in remote locations.

The Globalstar Emergency Management Communications System or GEMCOMS consists of multiple Globalstar fixed phones connected to a miniaturized cellular switch, or picocell.

"These units are definitely needed," said Joanne Secrest of the National Communications System. "We received the unit 12 hours in advance of Hurricane Rita. Fortunately, damage from Rita was minimal, and we have deployed the GEMCOMS to St. Bernard parish which was hardest hit in New Orleans. The ability to connect via satellite from locations in-building is critical."

Globalstar's GEMCOMS unit is similar to one of the products that Globalstar plans to develop if and when the FCC grants an authorization to deploy an Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC). Instead of mating with a cellular picocell, the ATC unit would use only Globalstar's mobile satellite channels in both mobile satellite and terrestrial modes. Globalstar filed its ATC application with the FCC in March and expects a ruling during the fourth quarter of 2005.

The announcement of the Globalstar Emergency Management Communication System marks another in a series of investments Globalstar has made over the past 18 months to improve the quality and reach of its service and expand its portfolio of voice and data solutions.

Recent activities have included breaking ground on the company's 26th satellite gateway, the opening of a satellite gateway in Sebring, Florida, a US$140 million agreement with QUALCOMM for the manufacture of current and next-generation fixed and mobile satellite phones, and the introduction of new satellite data solutions that enable easy and affordable remote asset monitoring.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

FEMA Computers Hampered During Katrina

Chicago (UPI) Oct 10, 2005
Faulty federal computer networks may have been partly to blame for the government's lackadaisical response to major storms last summer - and Hurricane Katrina this year, experts tell UPI's Networking.

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