[September 25, 2009] David L. Lawrence Convention Center Deploys Sprint Network for G-20 Global Economic Summit Coverage Tweet Sep 22, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- As the city of Pittsburgh makes final preparations to host the G-20 Global Economic Summit, September 24-25, Sprint said it is taking great steps to ensure that world leaders, event staff and public safety officials can communicate using Sprint mobile devices and services, including Nextel Direct Connect, an interoperable, push-to-talk service. The G-20 Global Economic Summit is one of nine national security events and approximately 34 presidentially declared disasters for which Sprint's network staff and the Sprint Emergency Response Team (ERT) have provided support - most notably, the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, the 2008 and 2004 Democratic and Republican national conventions, Hurricane Katrina, and the 2004 G-8 Summit. To prepare for this event, Sprint reported it has devoted three months of one-on-one meetings and close coordination with local emergency management personnel, police officers and firefighters. Sprint network engineers are increasing round-the-clock monitoring, in-building coverage and capacity on the Nationwide Sprint Network by 50 percent and on its Nextel National Network by 15 percent in locations throughout Pittsburgh, including: - The David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Point State Park, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and the Pittsburgh Central District. - Downtown Pittsburgh, where Sprint previously added more network capacity and assets for the 2009 championship celebrations of National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. - Areas designated for event demonstrators and staging emergency management operations. Additionally, during 2008, Sprint invested approximately $31 million in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to enhance coverage on its Nationwide Sprint Network and Nextel National Network. These 2008 investments also include more than $8.3 million in Pittsburgh and $1.1 million in western Pennsylvania. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]