Alliance To Facilitate Development Of Two-Way Satellite Data Solutions For Improved Tracking, Messaging And Emergency Communications

Iridium Satellite LLC (Iridium) is joining with mobile satellite industry companies and the emergency response community to form the ProTECTS (Promotion of Two-way Emergency Communication and Tracking Systems) Alliance. The primary goal of the alliance is to foster the rapid and orderly adoption of portable, two-way satellite-based location, tracking and messaging technologies.

The alliance will provide a forum for addressing issues affecting the suppliers and users of these vital safety devices. It also will seek to foster the development and deployment of bi-directional satellite data solutions meeting the requirements of the growing population of government and business organizations using portable tracking devices, as well as the public-safety community.

“The ProTECTS Alliance will advocate for industry standards based on two-way satellite data links,” said Patrick Shay, vice president and general manager of Iridium’s data division. “Soldiers in the field, disaster relief workers, pipeline inspectors in remote oil fields, helicopter pilots fighting forest fires, scientific expeditions in the Antarctic and sailors on the high seas are all relying on satellite location technology as a critical safety lifeline, and the interactive
bi-directional data link helps ensure their distress messages are heard and that help reaches them.”

Source: Iridium Satellite LLC