Diverse Power selects PowerTrunk for TETRA network upgrade

25 January 2016 - Diverse Power Inc., an electric utility company based in La Grange, Georgia, has reached an agreement with PowerTrunk, Inc. (part of the Sepura Group) to upgrade and expand its TETRA two-way digital radio communications network.

The project will consist of the integration of the PowerTrunk-T TETRA network infrastructure with the existing TETRA network owned by Diverse Power. Several additional site base stations will be added to the TETRA network in order to provide increased radio coverage over a wider area, and Sepura's STP9000 TETRA portable radios and SRG3900 mobile gateways have been chosen as the end-user equipment.

Diverse Power is a member-owned electric cooperative that provides electric utility services to several counties in western Georgia. The expanded Diverse Power TETRA network will provide coverage for approximately 60% of the State of Georgia and be monitored and maintained with their partner, Dean's Commercial Two-Way.

"Diverse Power quickly recognised the advantages of TETRA over other land mobile radio technologies available in the market, and shortly thereafter confirmed their intentions to upgrade and expand the network", said Jim Mattox, PowerTrunk Vice President of Strategic Development for Utilities Market. "Since TETRA is an open standard, they weren't locked in to a single manufacturer, so the PowerTrunk solution fits in with their current network architecture almost seamlessly. In fact, part of the project includes over-the-air gateways between the existing equipment and the PowerTrunk system to assure that migration is smooth with limited disruption for the users whilst the network is reconfigured as part of the expansion."

This means that workers in the field can continue to use any existing TETRA radio equipment, with the same TETRA voice and data features that they are used to. On the infrastructure side, the PowerTrunk-T system brings more capacity and functionality to the Diverse Power network, including the possibility of data applications such as GPS tracking, SCADA applications, and even e-mail implementation for TETRA radio users.

Harris County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Georgia are also users of the Diverse Power TETRA network, taking advantage of the capacity and coverage of the system, and likewise stand to benefit from the network upgrade and delivery of STP9000 portable and SRG3900 mobile gateway radios.