CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (BUSINESS WIRE), May 17, 2012 – Sprint (NYSE:S, news, filings) this week played a key participant role in the Coastal Bend Hurricane Conference and Evacuation Exercise. Sprint helped support over 500 participants with Emergency Satellite coverage, interoperable wireless devices, and other equipment and services. Sprint this year also served as a primary sponsor of the event, which simulates crisis situations for Texas first responders and public safety agencies.
During the event, Sprint’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) provided one Satellite Cell on Light Truck (SatCOLT) and deployed its ERT personnel and local market ERT Reservists to facilitate wireless communications among the dozens of participating federal, state, and local relief agencies and military units.
“These types of events are what we train for,” said Ryan McGill, Sprint ERT Manager. “In an emergency, it’s all about coordinating personnel, equipment and infrastructure and quickly delivering turn-key communications solutions to facilitate situational awareness and support command and control operations.”
Created in 2002, the Sprint ERT is the only organization in the wireless industry made up of full-time, seasoned staff with experience in fire, law enforcement, military communications and commercial network technology.
Sprint ERT members train throughout the year for worst-case scenarios, provide business and first responders with immediate access to mobile communications for emergencies and field training exercises and maintain a 24-hour hotline 365 days a year to rapidly address client needs. Sprint`s ERT has conducted more than 5,000 deployments for more than 700 public sector and enterprise agencies across the country; 32 presidentially-declared disasters; multiple national security events; and dozens of hurricanes, including:
* Hurricane Irene in 2011.
* The 2005 and 2009 Presidential inaugurations in Washington, D.C., and most recently the Martin Luther King Memorial dedication.
* Tornado response in Joplin, Mo., Alabama and Henryville, Ind.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
Contact(s):
Sprint
Mark Bonavia, 913-269-0436
Mark.bonavia@sprint.com
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