SatCom Systems Inc. of Burbank, Calif., was awarded contracts by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and member organizations to provide mobile satellite equipment and services for a nationwide Y2K backup communications network. The contracts call for SatCom Systems to establish a special satellite hotline connecting the 21 NERC security coordinators throughout the United States, Canada and parts of Mexico in a NetRadio talk group. NetRadio uses dedicated satellite channels for push-to-talk (PTT), two-way, point-to-multipoint communications, similar to a terrestrial trunked mobile radio network.
"We have created a satellite-based radio circuit with coverage across the entire continent to provide critical backup communications for the power industry during the Y2K transition period," stated Tom D. Soumas, Jr., president of SatCom Systems.
In addition to the NERC security coordinators` hotline, SatCom Systems has received orders from four NERC regional reliability councils (RCC) and more than 70 member organizations to provide satellite-based two-way radio, plus dial-up voice, fax and data links.
