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Redline Equipment Weathers the Storm for Trillion in School Districts Devastated by Hurricanes
Broadband wireless connections restored before telecom and traffic lights to provide essential communications
TORONTO---November 1, 2004---Redline Communications, a leading provider of standards-based broadband wireless equipment, today announced that broadband wireless was the first critical communications link to be re-established after hurricanes battered Florida and Alabama this summer. Trillion Digital Communications, a Redline customer and leading provider of �last mile� broadband connectivity and Internet access for Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools, reported that broadband wireless networks for school districts severely impacted by the hurricanes were restored in a week or less. In many areas, this was well before traffic lights, telecommunications systems and cellular networks came back online.
Trillion has been using Redline�s AN-50 broadband wireless equipment for much of its backhaul and access applications in school districts in nine southeastern states for the last 18 months.
�Some school districts were devastated by the hurricanes but broadband wireless networks held up better than expected,� said Rick Rushing, chief operating officer of Trillion Digital Communications. �When Hurricane Charley hit Charlotte County, Florida, our core network stayed intact and functional until the eye of the storm hit. Once it passed, we simply had to re-install antennas and the network was ready to go the minute power was restored.�
When Hurricane Ivan headed for Mobile County, Alabama, Trillion leveraged its Florida experience and disconnected electronics on the network before the hurricane�s eye struck. Once the crew moved into the area following the storm, the 106-site network was intact and operational within seven days.
Chris Bress, director of learning through technology for Charlotte County Public Schools in Port Charlotte, Florida, said, �What was amazing about our broadband wireless system was that we were able to restore connectivity to our sites before traffic lights came back on in the worst hit neighborhoods. Communications were critical during that time frame since most of the county lost telephone connectivity and the cell networks were overloaded. As soon as power was restored, e-mail became a primary form of communication.�
Mobile County Public School - for which Trillion operates one of the largest school broadband wireless networks in the country - experienced similar success in restoring wireless connectivity within a week of Hurricane Ivan making landfall. Margaret Blake, director of information technology, said, �There were serious problems with cellular and many people couldn�t call out. We had no problems using e-mail to contact anyone outside the school district. We certainly didn�t expect that kind of recovery in such a short time.�
�This is a testament to the value of broadband wireless in disaster recovery applications,� said Keith Doucet, vice president of marketing and product management at Redline Communications. �Not only has the technology delivered significant cost savings and improved performance for school networks since implementation, the speed of deployment and resiliency ensures that communications can be restored well before more conventional services.�
About Trillion Digital Communications
Trillion Digital Communications, Inc. was founded in 1997 with the specific goal of deploying Internet access via wireless broadband wide area networks to rural K-12 educational institutions. The Company�s primary focus continues to be the provisioning of wireless Internet and wireless wide area networks for K-12 educational systems and has grown in the intervening years to serve more than one million K-12 students and staff in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, south Carolina and Tennessee, and covers more than 4,000 miles. Trillion also holds a substantial interest in a sister company, Trillion Partners, based in Austin, Texas. Trillion Partners currently serves twelve western states, and has over 300 customers sites installed or under development.
About Redline Communications
Redline Communications is a technology leader in the design and manufacture of standards-based broadband wireless access solutions. Using industry leading OFDM technologies, Redline�s award-winning products provide unmatched high capacity and non-line-of-sight capabilities with proven performance, reliability and security. Ideal for a variety of access, backhaul and private network applications, Redline products meet the needs of carriers, service providers and enterprises worldwide. Redline is a principal member of the WiMAX Forum�, and was first in the world to market an 802.16 compliant product. Redline has over 5,000 installations in 60 countries across 6 continents through a global distribution network of 80+ partners. For more information, visit www.redlinecommunications.com.
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