PRESS RELEASE
April 2, 1996
US companies win $17 million contract
from overseas communications agency

A US$17 million contract to supply a radio spectrum monitoring and management system to Colombia, South America, has been awarded to the California based company, Technology for Communications International(TCI). Hewlett-Packard, as subcontractor, will supply computers and networking hardware, test and measurement equipment, and part of the system operating software.

As prime contractor TCI will supply the Colombian Ministry of Communications with operating software for the broadcast license data base, administrative processing, engineering analysis tools and geographic map display software. The company will also provide direction finding equipment, overall system integration and turnkey installation. The system is due to be operational by the second half of 1997. TCI reports that success in the Asia Pacific Region is an essential part of the business plan and the company anticipates further contracts from the region in 1996-97.
The ITU(1) compliant system automatically detects and identifies unlicensed radio transmissions, ensuring that a country's limited radio spectrum is optimally available to authorized users. The overall quality of communications is also improved for cell phone customers who experience static and loss of transmission due to radio interference. The system is designed to control the operation of radio and television broadcast stations, wireless telephone communications, pagers, trunking and microwave networks.
Additional benefits attributed to the system are streamlined processing of channel assignment and radio-communication licenses, and reduced delay in resolving interference problems. In addition, the company claims that improved accounting efficiency techniques for tracking, measuring and billing usage, captures revenue from licensed users that would otherwise be lost.
"Consistent and reliable management of the electromagnetic spectrum, and effective enforcement of spectrum utilization regulations have become a worldwide necessity, brought about by the rapid expansion in the number of users of cellular telephones, pagers and other, personal communication devices," said John W. Ballard, TCI's president and chief executive officer. "Our system will help customers manage their spectral assets well into the 21st century."
Scott Wright, general manager of Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa, California, Systems Division, added that, "This technology is used by countries that are expanding their wireless-communications infrastructures to strengthen their economies. Our expertise in measurement, communication and computation allows us to provide fully integrated, automated, nationwide networked solutions for applications such as regulatory compliance, interference detection and spectrum occupancy; all of which are critical to the success of an economically viable network," he added.
TCI supplies specialized, medium and high frequency (MF/HF), radio systems operating in the 0.5 to 30 MHz band. The company offers high quality, MF/HF antennae turnkey broadcasting stations, sophisticated HF communications, signal collection, and direction finding systems.
Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading, global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and services. The company has 105,200 employees, and revenues of US$31.5 billion in its 1995 fiscal year.
Information about TCI can be found on the WWW at http://www.tcibt.com and information about HP at http://www.hp.com.
/ins

Note to the Editor:
(1) ITU stands for International Telecommunications Union.

For further information, please contact:
TCI/BR
Dr. Víctor Cautis
222 Caspian Drive
Sunnyvale
CA 94089-1014, USA
Tel: +1-408-747-6215
Fax: +1-408-734-1671


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