HOUSTON, Texas - With the successful completion of a recent exercise in Missouri, SkyPort Global Communications has once again demonstrated its capabilities in supporting local governments concerned about the upcoming hurricane season and numerous potential disaster scenarios. SkyPort won wide acclaim in 2005 for its support of the National Guard and other agencies that responded to the series of hurricanes that upended life in much of the southeast U.S. Now, SkyPort is once again being called upon for equipment and satellite transmission capacity as officials in the same region run drills and exercises to make sure they are prepared for the worst.
The hurricanes in 2005 and terrorist attacks world wide have shown companies how vulnerable commerce is to natural and man-made disasters, and SkyPort is seeing new demand for its backup services from these enterprise customers.
“Almost everything governments and companies do today is based on seamless communications, much of it over Internet,” said Patrick Brant, president and CEO of SkyPort. “These are land-based networks, and they are vulnerable to failure because of fires, storms, attacks or just about any scenario you can think of. A satellite backup has become part of good planning for a growing number of agencies and companies.”
The exercise in Missouri in mid-June was a good example. With portable SkyPort equipment owned by the Missouri National Guard, the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA) transmitted video, data and images via two different communications networks in a simulated disaster. The demonstration was a part of a multi-agency earthquake planning exercise in Missouri.
The equipment included a 1.2-meter TracStar portable antenna and anirect VSAT modem. The satellite connection was made through SkyPort’s high-security, world- teleport, located at the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, TX. The demonstration showed that in the event of a disaster, MSBA could transmit live from a disaster site directly to computers at incident command locations, businesses, residences or wireless-enabled laptops in Missouri and beyond.
Dr. Carter Ward, MSBA’s Executive Director, said the need for reliable equipment and networks necessary for communications during a disaster cannot be overemphasized.
“I have visited SkyPort’s teleport at Ellington Field and witnessed first-hand the attention SkyPort gives to the provision of survivable communications by satellite in a disaster,” Ward said. “I was very impressed.”
SkyPort participated in a similar exercise earlier this year with officials from the state of Louisiana to demonstrate the capability of portable modems and antennas to transmit live video from field disaster sites to a central command center. In that exercise, officials from the Governor’s Office and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette set up a situation in which an emergency operations center (EOC) had to be shut down due to a leak at a nearby gas refinery.
Using SkyPort’s Nomad mobile satellite solution at the gas refinery and SkyPort’s Guardian portable EOC 30 miles away, first responders at the scene were able to transmit video, voice and data back to commanders in the EOC via a satellite link through SkyPort’s teleport in Houston. The commanding officers were then able to direct the firefighters and police officers at the scene while watching everything on a TV monitor. The system also provided full interoperability, so that police using mobile radios could communicate directly with those on cell phones or land lines.
SkyPort’s ability to perform in these drills was clearly reflected during the 2005 hurricane season when Hurricane Rita shut down most other teleports along the gulf coast. The SkyPort facility at Ellington Field Reserve Base is built to withstand sustained winds of 125 mph. In addition the company has an underground back-up data center 50 miles away. In the event of power loss, the SkyPort facilities are totally self-sustaining with diesel generators and diesel tanks on standby.
“According to many agencies we were the only teleport that stayed up the entire time,” said Brant, SkyPort’s CEO. “We never lost a customer, never lost communications or connectivity and never lost power.”
For customers like the U.S. National Guard, FEMA and the Louisiana State Police, that communications link was critical. Even television news crews turned to the SkyPort facility for a secure place from which to submit live satellite news feeds throughout the storm. The company ultimately was awarded the National Guard Minuteman Award for its performance, a virtually unprecedented honor among civilian companies.
“During Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, SkyPort performed flawlessly while maintaining the hub at their Network Operation Center on behalf of the National Guard,” said Major Lee Furches, NGB-J6 Joint C4 Support Division, in the citation of the award. “SkyPort’s keen and insightful understanding of the National Guard’s role and mission during the disaster was key to the relief effort and directly contributed to the National Guard’s ability to provide solid uninterrupted communications support. SkyPort truly became a part of the National Guard team.”
About SkyPort Global Communications, Inc. SkyPort is a global communications carrier providing managed, secure, broadband satellite and terrestrial communication services. The company’s discriminating clients rely on it to provide end-to-end voice, video, and data solutions, that are fast and designed to be 99.999% reliable. Customers in sectors such as Energy, Military, Government, Enterprise, and others, depend on SkyPort’s carrier solutions for their critical communications.
SkyPort was founded in 1999, and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. With its global network, engineering expertise, and owned infrastructure at the highly secure Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, SkyPort continues to exceed the security and reliability standards of its growing list of clients.
SkyPort was honored by the World Teleport Association as the fastest-growing teleport operator in 2006; and received the National Guard’s Minuteman award in 2005 for outstanding disaster support during Hurricane Katrina.
Longbottom Communications, LLC 6105 North 28th Street Arlington, VA 22207 Phone: (703) 237-4244 Fax: (703) 534-8240 Email: Patrick@longbottomcommunications.com