Parallel Wireless is testing its equipment for public safety interoperability in New Hampshire. The equipment is being used by first responders in the New Hampshire towns of Milford, Wilton and Mount Vernon.
With equipment makers and carriers increasingly looking toward the planned development of the FirstNet public safety network, Parallel Wireless is hoping that its solution will gain increasing scrutiny.
Interoperability is one key aspect of the deployment, said Rajesh Mishra, President and CTO of Parallel Wireless, in an interview with FierceInstaller. If first responders from different jurisdictions respond to an emergency, there is no guarantee that the technologies they use will enable the emergency personnel to communicate.
Mishra said that sometimes first responders are deployed to an area with no cellular coverage. In that situation, the company's CWS-200, a ruggedized in-vehicle eNodeB and Wi-Fi Access point, could be a solution. The CWS-200 is a compact, self-configuring mesh solution. The device can provide its own backhaul via LTE or satellite. For the last mile, the equipment is configured with LTE and Wi-Fi.
Customers can download an app to their iPhone or iPad in order to configure the CWS-200. Parallel Wireless has not yet developed an Android app for the CWS-200, but Mishra indicated that the company plans to do so.
In December, Parallel Wireless announced that it was selected by EE, the largest mobile operator in the United Kingdom, for a rural LTE buildout that is expected to cover 1,500 communities around the country.
For more:
- see this press release from Parallel Wireless
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