Andrew Corporation, one of the global leaders in communications systems and products, has signed an agreement with Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway Corporation's (MTRC) territory-wide radio network.
As part of this project, Andrew will modify MTRC’s communications infrastructure in stations, tunnels, and other buildings to enable migration of the railway's radio system from a conventional 80 megahertz (MHz) trunk radio system to an 800 MHz TETRA (terrestrial trunked radio) system.
TETRA is a mobile radio standard often employed by public safety and emergency organizations. The MTRC’s existing 80 MHz radio system was built in the early 1990s, and while system expansions were made over the past 14 years, the upgrade will support significantly more advanced functions, including individual call, group call with flexible grouping, and digital data transmission.
“The MTRC is recognized as one of the world's top railway operators with a reputation for technical excellence," said Matt Melester, vice president, Wireless Innovations Worldwide Business Operations, Andrew Corporation.
“This radio frequency (RF) upgrade project for TETRA is one more example of how accurate that perception is. Andrew has built a highly successful relationship with MTRC over the last 15-plus years, and we are extremely proud to continue providing our support of Hong Kong’s transit system and its customers.”
The project is the latest of a number of large-scale projects on which Andrew and the MTRC have partnered in recent years, including the upgrade of the MTRC’s wireless network infrastructure to support UMTS, a third-generation technology standard for public mobile phone services, in 2004.
Andrew, which made its first footprint in Asia some 40 years ago and now employs more than 3600 people in the region, said it will provide a complete end–to-end service for the MTRC, from designing and manufacturing the required system components, through on-site installation, to training the MTRC staff who will be implementing the system. The Westchester based organisation will also provide comprehensive maintenance services to the MTRC as part of this project.
Major Andrew products to be used in the project include the ION™-M fiber distributed antenna system, RADIAX® radiating cables, multi-services RF combiners, indoor and outdoor antennas, HELIAX® coaxial cables, passive devices, and accessories.
Andrew will also install the Andrew Integrated Management and Operating System (A.I.M.O.S.), a software-based solution installed in the operations and maintenance center, which alerts operators to problems in their network. |
