Alvarion Installs Wireless Network for Public Safety Connectivity in City of Cleburne

Alvarion®Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALVR), a global provider of optimized wireless broadband solutions addressing the connectivity, coverage and capacity challenges of public and private networks, announced today that the City of Cleburne, Texas, installed a private wireless network for public safety connectivity reducing the costs associated with the use of wireless broadband cards and delivering better performance. The network uses Alvarion’s BreezeMAX® Extreme base stations in the secure 4.9 GHz band connected to BreezeMAX Vehicular Subscriber Units installed in the City’s police vehicles allowing officers to seamlessly and securely perform their duties in the field.

Currently, police vehicles patrolling the city use a laptop computer connected to the city’s fiber network and information systems via a high speed wireless broadband card, such as an AirCard®. This type of wireless connectivity is a costly, recurring expense leaving no room to economically expand services to more departments. The City of Cleburne decided to implement a private wireless network that would eliminate recurring charges and readily expand to other city services and public works as it continues to expand the network, eventually replacing all wireless broadband cards.

“We are pleased with the way our first private wireless network was so easily installed and quickly integrated to our existing city functions resulting in significant cost savings,” states Willie Resto, MIS Manager, City of Cleburne. “We immediately realized the benefit of expanding connectivity to additional public works and city vehicles and envisioned additional smart city applications such as public access and hot spots which will further improve the quality of life for our citizens and promote our City as a holiday destination.”

The City of Cleburne chose Alvarion’s BreezeMAX Extreme solution to provide the capacity, connectivity, security and reliability needed for their private network. The BreezeMAX Extreme solution also delivered faster rates to users. Crystal Communications, Alvarion’s longtime partner, installed and integrated a full private network infrastructure within five working days. Base stations were quickly and easily installed on city owned assets around the City allowing instant connectivity to the City’s fiber network. VSUs were installed in police vehicles for seamless, secure connectivity to the City’s information center and database.

“Alvarion’s ease of integration with existing networks was a major factor in choosing this solution,” states Bill Young, Director of Government Sales, Crystal Communications. “We had confidence in Alvarion’s reliable system as we have installed it in other smart city applications, and we were able to provide the City of Cleburne with the same quality and dependability from start to finish.”

The system was completely non-disruptive to the City of Cleburne’s Police Force and allowed City Officials to continue with business as usual. Network management is provided by Alvarion’s AlvariStar system. An on-site training course taught the City’s Information Managers to program both base stations and VSUs and will allow for complete autonomy of network programming in future expansions.

“The City of Cleburne is a fine example of today’s cities using technology to improve the quality of life of its citizens,” states Udi Ben-David, General Manager of Americas at Alvarion. “Our wireless solutions are helping municipalities and cities achieve savings in both CAPEX and OPEX that will that will continue to be realized for years to come.”

Expansion to other city services has already begun with installation of the VSU in fire trucks and other field vehicles. Other departments have also approached the City’s MIS team with specific requirements and are coming up with innovative ways to increase productivity using the wireless network such as completing paper work and reports online from the field.

This network was fully funded through grants from COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services). COPS funding helps law enforcement agencies across America meet an ever-increasing range of challenges with community policing.

Alvarion will host its Annual Partner Event in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on October 15-18, 2012. For additional information, please contact channels@alvarion.com

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