USA Cobb Electric to sign contract for TETRA communications with Hytera

Radioresourcemag announced yesterday that utility company Cobbe electric signed a contract last week with Hytera Communications to deliver a TETRA network. With this contract, Cobb electric is the first US utility company that plans to deploy the digital TETRA technology. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

According to Gary Lorenz, Hytera vice president of sales.: "Cobb Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) signed a contract for a four-site UHF TETRA system and 340 subscriber units. The utility will also deploy a fifth site as a mobile site that the utility can maneuver where it needs coverage."

“Cobb EMC identified five sites, and the fifth is optional depending on how they might use it and the potential to use it throughout the utility’s operation,” Lorenz said.

Hytera will provide the infrastructure and subscriber units, most of which are portables, for the utility. The TETRA infrastructure will be supplied through Hytera Mobilfunk in Bad Munder, Germany. Hytera acquired Rohde & Schwarz’s TETRA business in 2011.

Cobb EMC procured UHF 450 - 470 MHz 25-kilohertz channels that were formerly paging frequencies to help facilitate the buildout. “Having access to these channels was a big part of their decision-making process to go with TETRA,” Lorenz said.

Cobb EMC is a not-for-profit electric membership cooperative providing electric energy in north metro Atlanta and Southwest Georgia. Steve Macke, principal at Advent, served as a consultant for the utility.

“Cobb EMC did a thorough job with the specs and the request for proposals (RFP),” Lorenz said. “Hytera thought the best possible solution was TETRA. When you look at Cobb and the requirements, TETRA is a great fit. It will prove itself over the next few years. I think this is just the beginning.”

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Origional article by Sandra Wendelken.

Source: Radioresourcemag