Cambria County, Pa., Multi-Use Wireless Network Goes Live

Cambria County, Pa., has activated a county-wide, multi-service wireless communications network that enables the county to utilize a single, carrier-grade network for county government, education, public safety, commercial and residential applications.

"The Cambria Connected network has enabled the county to substantially improve its public safety network while at the same time eliminating most of its own monthly communication costs," said PJ Stevens, Cambria County Commission president. "Not only has the network allowed us to create opportunities for economic development and better government services, but it also effectively brings Cambria County into the 21st century of communications."

The CONNXX platform is made of a telecommunication-grade wireless infrastructure. Its advanced security features and architecture enable the network to safely and effectively provide a variety of services to a diverse user community. The "Cambria Connected" network will be able to deliver services including land mobile radio (LMR) with simulcast backhaul, automatic meter reading, business and residential broadband, video surveillance, high speed mobility, SCADA, metro-LAN services and community wi-fi.

"The vision of Cambria County is now a model of how a multi-service network can benefit an entire community," Brent Mortensen, president of CONXX, said. "The county took the opportunity to build a network to improve public safety while simultaneously accelerating broadband availability to benefit the local residents and businesses."

The new public safety communication platform is a M/A-COM system provided through TransCore Inc., based in Harrisburg, Penn. The system is tightly integrated into the CONXX backbone and delivers improved coverage in areas where public safety communications has been a longstanding problem. The new mobility capability can turn any public safety vehicle into a moving office, allowing officers and first responders to spend more time in the community.

"Our new public safety network not only enhances voice communications, but it is the first such network in Pennsylvania capable of supporting high-speed mobile data applications, including live streaming video, computer-aided dispatch and access to GIS applications from the public safety vehicles and station locations throughout the county," said Brian Feist, Cambria County's executive director of emergency services. "This capability significantly improves first responder safety and the quality of the services we provide."

The Cambria network will also provide opportunities for economic development and lower costs for business communication services. Residential and business customers can get broadband access through fixed wireless connections to the network through local participating Internet service providers.

"The Cambria network backbone is designed to have the reliability of a carrier network," said Jeff Blank, chief technical officer of CONXX and creator of AllCoNet, which the Cambria Connected network was modeled after. "The quality and reliability of this network make it a great choice for both large and small businesses for primary data, voice communications, and Internet."

The entire network is managed by the CONXX Carrier Communication Observer (CCO), a management framework for multiple vendor architectures. Based on the most robust e-commerce architecture, the network management system was designed and built by developers who have operated critical networks all day every day for more than 10 years and enables communities such as Cambria County to maintain its advanced network operations with minimal manpower. The CCO will manage equipment from any manufacturer on the network using a versatile user interface.