OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - (Business Wire) Sprint, (NYSE:S), an industry leader in supporting
telecommunications needs for large-scale events, including 23 presidentially declared
emergencies, has been selected to provide critical communications support for Pope
Benedict XVI’s historic visit to New York City. Sprint’s Emergency Response Team
(ERT) is providing – upon request of the Archdiocese of New York (ADNY) – 600 Sprint
phones, all of which include Nextel Direct Connect, Sprint’s premier push -to-talk
service, which allows staff to communicate instantly during all activities related
to the Papal visit.
“Robust communications are integral to
the success of the Pope’s visit, and we decided to work with Sprint because of their
industry-leading Nextel Direct Connect product and the instant connectivity that
it will provide to our sta during all activities over the next few days,” said
Joseph Zwilling, director of communications at the Archdiocese of New York. “The
Sprint team has been very forthcoming with their technology and personnel, and we
highly commend their participation.”
- Sprint’s ERT will deploy 600 phones with Nextel Direct Connect.
- 40 phones will be used by the Elite Fleet, including the Pope’s Caravan, all Cardinals
and the Vatican VIP personnel.
- Key capabilities within the Nextel Direct Connect portfolio that the team will utilize
include Group Connect®, a unique capability that allows users to communicate with
up to 20 other Nextel Direct Connect users at one time; Next MailTM, which allows
Nextel Direct Connect users to send a voice message to any email address and Blast
Email via PTN Messaging.
- The Pope’s caravan will be tracked through Actsoft’s Comet Tracker GPS solution
loaded on Sprint phones; transmitting data over a secured network in near real-time
for optimum security and accuracy.
Due to the functionality and reliability of Actsoft’s Comet Tracker product, Sprint
chose this seamless solution to ensure the security of the Pope. Tom Mitchell, CEO
and Founder of Actsoft Inc., states, “Actsoft is honored to contribute to the security
and safety of such a prominent and prestigious world leader during his visit to
New York City. Our GPS Solution has been selected again for its industry leadership
position.”
Media attending the multiple events in New York City will also benefit from the
power of Sprint Mobile Broadband, by having access to Sprint broadband cards available
at all media centers established throughout the city and being able to submit their
reports online at ultra-fast speeds. Reaching more than 246 million people (inclusive
of data roaming), 15,556 cities and 1,486 airports coast-to-coast; Sprint Mobile
Broadband allows customers to quickly download large files as well as to access
highspeed data applications using a variety of solutions such as handheld devices
and connection cards.
“It was Nextel Direct Connect that originally brought us in contact with the ADNY.
After several conversations and meetings, the ADNY operations team decided to utilize
additional services including our mobile broadband cards and
GPS application to
ensure constant, reliable communications at all times,” says Chris Hackett, vice
president of business and government solutions at Sprint. “Sprint is delighted to
support the ADNY by providing them with a level of service that no one can match.”
Sprint ERT provides rapidly deployable, scalable and reliable interoperable communications
for emergencies, drills, and field exercises. These solutions from Sprint ERT provide
critical communication and connectivity virtually anywhere, at anytime to government
agencies, the military, and enterprise clients. To learn more about the Sprint ERT
and interoperable communications from Sprint, contact the ERT via email at
EmergencyResponseTeam@sprint.com, or call the 24x7
ERT Support Hotline at 1-888-639-0020. GETS Users can reach the ERT at 254-295-2220.
About Sprint Nextel Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline
communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses
and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering
and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving
approximately 54 million customers at the end of 2007; industryleading mobile data
services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global
Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit
Sprint.
Sprint
Sukhi Sahni, 703-592-7779
sukhi.sahni@sprint.com