AT&T Intros Mobile Cellular Sites For Government

Public safety agencies can now purchase their own mobile cellular site from AT&T to provide communications for remote locations or at active emergency scenes. Today the company introduced its Remote Mobility Zone product, which can be arranged for either fixed or mobile installations. It links to AT&T’s network via satellite or Internet for up to 28 simultaneous calls or data connections within a half-mile (mobile) or one-mile (fixed) radius. The company says the product provide 2.5g-level GSM phone service, or what’s called EDGE. The Internet back-haul version requires at least a 256 Kbps connection, which could be provided by DSL service. The new product mimics the consumer-level, so-called “femotocell” offered by AT&T under the brand name 3G MicroCell that was introduced last year. In a press release, AT&T says the new equipment and voice plans are only available in counties where AT&T already has service, and the mobile version is available only to government users. The gear automatically manages the available spectrum at the set-up site by detecting in-use frequencies, detecting interference, and selecting the appropriate channels to use. The equipment costs $2,700, and a monthly voice plan is also required. Read more about the service here, and download (pdf) a brochure about the service.

The short mast (left) connects to AT&T's control unit, and then directs cellular calls either though a satellite or Internet (IP) connection to AT&T's telephone network.