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Sprint to Help Navigance Secure Nation's General Aviation Facilities

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 October 2003, 06:00 CDT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sprint has been selected by Navigance Technologies Group to provide advanced wireless communication and video security monitoring capabilities that address operational and security needs for the nation's General Aviation (GA) airports and facilities. The first Navigance System installation with Sprint is planned for Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO )

Under the agreement, Sprint will provide a high-speed wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), associated equipment and IP transport services. This will give Navigance the capability to offer customers a complete end-to-end technology and security solution, including Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) service. Navigance has integrated full-motion video cameras, digital video recorders and biometric access control devices -- linked by the wireless network -- to enhance airport security. Camera activity can be viewed locally or securely over the Internet thanks to IP enablement by Sprint. This allows the facility to share the visual feed with local law enforcement and emergency response personnel.

A system installation is planned for Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, one of the busiest general aviation (non-commercial) airports in the country, involving video equipment, wireless network and IP transport. Navigance will also market the application to the general aviation industry -- consisting of nearly 18,000 airports with over 10,000 facilities including Fixed Base Operations (FBOs).

The general aviation industry has been identified by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as having a potential for security risk. Security capabilities may be modest and involve older closed-circuit video equipment that is not Web-enabled and inaccessible to local authorities. Those airports may have limited budgets and may not be able to afford the levels of security associated with larger commercial airports nor offer any type of national Wi-Fi coverage.

The Navigance offering can help GA airports and FBOs compete for business by deploying advanced services to attract clientele to their facilities. Besides the Navigance security advantage, the Sprint solution provides facility management Wi-Fi service for passengers and crews, enabling a potential revenue stream that may offset security costs. The Sprint solution involves IP transport, enhanced wireless network, wireless hardware and managed network services for video-stream monitoring in addition to system design and project management and monitoring. "We are meeting the challenge of improving security at the nation's general aviation facilities," explained Bob Jandebeur, Navigance president and chief executive officer. "We've recognized a need for enhanced security and technology solutions, and feel the Sprint offering brings new capabilities to those that seek them. Our solutions can address the technology and security gap that presently exists at many general aviation airports, corporate flight departments and fixed base operations, while offering the end customer new mobile communications convenience via Wi-Fi service."

"Air safety will benefit from this integrated technology solution," said Bruce Friedman, managing director of Sprint's Mobile Computing Services Group. "Sprint was able to integrate multiple hardware and network components into a seamless communications and security solution. Our technical consulting and project management capabilities make Sprint's wireless network and hardware applications highly attractive. This is a unique cost-effective solution that combines advanced security capabilities, improved facility management, customer communications convenience and a revenue-generation opportunity."

Sprint previously announced a plan to offer Wi-Fi service to the nation's commercial airports to benefit business and recreational travelers. PCS Wi-Fi Access is part of the Sprint portfolio of Wi-Fi communications services targeted to both public and enterprise customers. For more information on Wi-Fi and other mobile computing solutions for businesses, visit http://www.sprintbiz.com/solutions/mobile .

About Sprint

Sprint is a global integrated communications provider serving more than 26 million customers in over 100 countries. With approximately 70,000 employees worldwide and nearly $27 billion in annual revenues, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all- digital, fiber-optic network and an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local communications services in 39 states and the District of Columbia and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com/ .

About Navigance Technologies Group

The mission of Navigance is to develop and market unique technology and security solutions to a number of vertical markets beginning with Aviation. In addition to the SAFE (Safe Aviation Facilities Environment) product, Navigance is developing an Internet-based real-time weather, video surveillance and wireless communication tower system called AVSWOS, (Aviation Video Surveillance Weather Observation System). The key to the Navigance business model is a strong aviation background and industry knowledge in conjunction with R&D experience with an alliance of strategic partners and their technologies. This fully integrated system creates a total turnkey solution for each market. Additional information is at http://www.navigance.com/ or 877 GoWiFli.