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| Alvarion's BreezeACCESS 4900 suite allows broadband surveillance system virtually anywhere in the city |
Cape Coral was founded in 1970 and is one of the largest pre-planned communities in the US. Situated halfway between Tampa and Miami, Cape Coral is the second largest city in area in Florida and the fifth fastest growing city in the US with the current population of 160,000 expected to more than double in the next 20 years.
About Southeastern Communication Service Inc.
Florida based Southeastern Communication Service was established in 1988 and is a subsidiary of WPCS International Incorporated. The company specialises in turnkey design, construction and maintenance of wireless communication facilities and has built and modified communications sites throughout the south east of the US and the Caribbean.
The challenge
Cape Coral municipality sought a way to provide broadband services to remote fire stations and the Police Mobile Incident Command Vehicle (MCC). The headquarters of Cape Coral's Public Safety Office and a nearby fire station were on the city-owned fibre backbone for data communications needs. In addition, the eight remote fire stations in the city weren't covered by the city or commercial fibre networks, but instead were connected via costly leased T1 lines to the Public Safety data centre.
The solution
City officials realised that deploying a wireless network in the 4.9 GHz frequency band would significantly improve the bandwidth, enable maximised use of the public safety systems and be more cost effective than T1 lines. The city also began using the MCC which is equipped with low bandwidth satellite data communications equipment in order to interface with the city's public safety data centre in the field. Cape Coral officials issued an RFP, tried several systems, and it soon became clear that Alvarion's BreezeACCESS 4900 suite, which once installed on the MCC would allow high capacity virtually anywhere in the city, was the correct wireless solution.
Phase one of the network began in August 2007 after just four days of testing and installation. A 3-sector BreezeACCESS
A BreezeACCESS 4900 CPE enables digital images to be transmitted over the wireless network back to the police department |
4900 base station was installed at 170 feet and continues to provide connectivity at around 15 Mbps to the MCC and five remote fire stations within a 3.75 mile radius. The first time the MCC utilized the 4.9 GHz network was in September 2007 when it managed the aftermath of a tornado that struck the city.
Phase 2 of the deployment included two more base stations to provide connectivity to two additional fire stations as well as three city-run charter schools. A BreezeACCESS 4900 CPE is also connected to individual cameras, enabling digital images to be transmitted over the wireless network back to the police department.
The result
The broadband wireless network enables fire fighters to quickly and effectively access the centralised public safety system, distribute instructions, emergency orders and warnings, receive instant and accurate information from the field, and download aerial shots and internal plans of buildings on fire. The spare capacity on the network is being utilized as CCTV networks for schools, and network bandwidth and coverage can be easily expanded to ensure that as Cape Coral grows so will the network. In addition, the success of the network has encouraged Lee County (of which Cape Coral is part) to use broadband wireless networks to reduce telecommunications costs.
