The company’s IncidentOne datacasting technology delivered video, files and alerts to local, regional and national law enforcement personnel during multi-day event.

Chantilly, VA, Feb 7, 2017 – The Houston Office of Public Safety, Houston Public Media and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deployed SpectraRep’s IncidentOne datacasting technology to enhance video and data sharing both within departments and between multiple agencies during Super Bowl LI. IncidentOne, a wireless emergency communications solution, used the high powered broadcast television signal from KUHT-TV in Houston to deliver encrypted public safety video and data to emergency responders. The content, including video, files and emergency alerts, was delivered quickly and securely without relying on Internet or cell phone spectrum used by the public. The SpectraRep technology was supported by funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate and is being developed in partnership with the America’s Public Television Stations (APTS).

“Large events, such as the Super Bowl present a significant challenge to communicate and maintain situational awareness for both local and event specific public safety personnel,” said Jack Hanagriff, City of Houston, Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security.  “SpectraRep’s technology added the much-needed ability to deliver critical video and other data that can congest other networks during these events.”

Over 1 million people attended this year’s Super Bowl events, taking place throughout the city, including Discovery Green, a 12-acre park in downtown Houston. SpectraRep utilized licensed broadcast spectrum from KUHT-TV – Houston’s public television station – to reliably deliver encrypted and targetable video from a pool of thousands of cameras, as well as files and alerts. SpectraRep’s innovative technology also enhances information gathering from the field by integrating cell phone video that is then able to be securely transmitted to targeted recipients over the KUHT television broadcast.

Datacasting leverages broadcast television’s native one-to-many broadcast model to deliver content to an unlimited number of recipients. It is secure and not visible by the public. It supports targeting to specific public safety recipients or groups. Datacasting offers the advantage of bypassing congestion on public and private networks, which can be a significant problem during large crowd events. It is well positioned to enhance the new FirstNet network by providing additional licensed spectrum that is optimized for one-to-many content delivery.

DHS engaged the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) to study and report on datacasting technology and its use of television broadcasts. A comprehensive report will be issued in the spring of 2017.

“Our mission at SpectraRep is to provide innovative solutions to improve public safety content acquisition and distribution,” said Mark O’Brien, president, SpectraRep. “In partnership with public television, our datacasting technology is a reliable, efficient tool that can be deployed cost effectively and quickly around the country. We are working on a nationwide rollout that leverages a portion of spectrum from all public television stations to deliver to every responder the information they need, regardless of their location and connection status and without concern about network congestion.”

SpectraRep’s datacasting technology has been used by the Houston police and fire departments for over a year to deliver real-time video and data over KUHT’s broadcast television signal to local police and fire officials. Users can share data within their agency and across agencies for improved interoperability. A recent example during last year’s floods in Houston enabled public safety officials to share live video taken from a helicopter sharing it with multiple recipients on the ground. This would not have been possible without the use of Houston Public Media’s spectrum and SpectraRep’s technology.

In addition to enabling existing high powered broadcast television signals to carry encrypted public safety data, SpectraRep developed an extensive toolset of content management, targeting, backhaul, video management system integration and receiver technology that focus on ease of use. Recent developments include LTE integration that uses cell phones to ingest ad hoc video that can then be securely broadcast to an unlimited number of recipients.

Details on SpectraRep and their datacasting solutions are available on their website www.spectrarep.com or by calling the company at (703) 227-9690.

About SpectraRep

SpectraRep® is the leading provider of datacasting solutions, applications and systems for homeland security, public safety, law enforcement, education and mass media sectors. SpectraRep works with public television stations throughout the US and uses their datacasting solution to provide a robust wireless one-to-many data delivery network that compliments existing voice radios. For more information, visit www.spectrarep.com.

For more information contact:

MacKenzie Lovings

703.606.3481

mlovings@biakelsey.com