MELBOURNE, FL/BOSTON, MA, February 16, 2012 — Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS), an international communications and information technology company, has announced the availability of Harris LTE Next Connect Solution -- technology that provides assured connectivity to meet first responders’ need for constant, mobile access to high-bandwidth data to support time-critical decision making.

In conjunction with NetMotion Wireless’ leading Mobility XE technology, the Harris LTE Next Connect Solution reduces network outage time by providing an optimal network connection. This results in secure, seamless roaming capability between the private LTE network and public networks.

Firefighters, paramedics and police officers operate in a dynamic environment and cannot afford to waste even seconds from lost signal strength or connectivity. At the same time, departments need visibility into the performance of mobile users’ devices and applications to ensure essential information is constantly flowing, and in-hand.

The Harris solution guarantees communication of actionable data in a number of ways:

Anticipates network changes. By continuously monitoring the network health to determine when to switch to a more suitable network, the Next Connect Solution anticipates expected network changes and performs a network switch before the connection is lost. Network degradation is determined based on an analysis of signal strength, throughput and latency. This switch to a more suitable network is unnoticed by the public safety user.

Makes seamless transitions without data loss. Until the deployment of a nationwide public safety LTE network provides adequate coverage, first responders will need to roam seamlessly between their private LTE network and public networks. The Next Connect Solution will transition from the private LTE network to secondary broadband networks, without any loss of data or termination of applications. When the Next Connect Solution determines that connectivity to the private LTE network can be re-established, the seamless transition will again take place. This works with existing mobile PC platforms and commercial wireless cards, minimizing the overall investment required. 

Provides secure application persistence. By teaming with NetMotion Wireless to add the NetMotion Mobility XE product to its LTE solution, Harris provides a Mobile Virtual Private Network (Mobile VPN) designed for wireless environments. The Mobile VPN delivers secure remote access to network resources and applications. Mobility XE keeps mobile users authenticated and maintains application persistence; it retains reliability during coverage loss, and provides seamless roaming capability between networks. In the event a first responder is outside of the private LTE network, the Next Connect Solution, along with Mobility XE, enables a secure VPN link across the private LTE, public 3G and 4G networks, and others such as Wi-Fi and narrowband data networks.

Offers greater visibility and management. In addition to giving the mobile user greater in-the-field capabilities, Mobility XE also offers public safety administrators more visibility into the users, devices, networks and applications on the network, as well as control over data in transit.  Paired with greater reporting capabilities, this can introduce efficiencies to improve effectiveness, and help agencies report on their investments. 

“Harris is providing the public safety community with much-needed actionable communications through carrier roaming, data, video and voice applications,” said Chuck Shaughnessy, vice president, Harris Public Safety and Professional Communications.  “By delivering seamless, anticipatory roaming between private LTE networks and public networks, we are ensuring that the patrol officer in the vehicle, the police officer on foot, and other first responders can take advantage of data-rich applications, and ubiquitous, integrated connectivity.”

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the creation of a non-exclusive Harris-AT&T alliance to deliver next generation LTE wireless solutions for agencies and first responders.

In public safety and professional communications Harris is a leading supplier of assured communications® systems and equipment for public safety, federal, utility, commercial and transportation markets — with products ranging from the most advanced IP voice and data networks, to next-generation, secure public safety-grade LTE (Long-Term Evolution) solutions for voice, video and data applications, to industry leading multiband, multimode radios.  Harris has more than 80 years of experience in public safety and professional communications and supports over 500 systems around the world.