Sprint to Support the United States Park Police as Nation’s Capital Dedicates the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial

As thousands of attendees are expected to attend the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial on The National Mall this weekend, the United States Park Police has selected Sprint (NYSE: S) and the Sprint Emergency Response (ERT) to provide critical wireless voice service, data coverage and mobile devices to its staff as it supports the week-long events honoring the dedication.

The U.S. Park Police faces a significant hurdle in deploying wireless communications to support the dedication activities of the MLK Jr. National Memorial. The actual location of the memorial is an area surrounded by hundreds of trees – making it difficult to secure reliable wireless signals using point-to-point technology.

With thousands of guests visiting the memorial this weekend, along with President Barack Obama, the U.S. Park Police needed capability to get robust, data intensive communications in and out of the incident, including to and from an on-site operational command center.

To aid the U.S. Park Police with this need, Sprint ERT is deploying a Satellite Cell on Light Truck (SatCOLT) to provide the officers seamless and reliable wireless voice and IP data coverage at the memorial’s site, and numerous mobile devices on hand to assist in immediate, interoperable communications, and location-based services.

"Rarely do we encounter an incident which presents so many challenges to both voice and data communications,” said Capt. David J. Mulholland, commander of technology services for the U.S. Park Police. "This event taxed all of our available resources, and the United States Park Police truly needed a partner to help provide mission-critical infrastructure and backhaul so that our on-scene operational commanders could make the best informed public safety decisions on the day of the dedication.”

Similar to the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, Sprint knows that large crowds, packed into a relatively small location, might slow the transmission of wireless calls and data. To prepare for and mitigate this impact at National Mall events, Sprint has increased data capacity on surrounding cell sites by 25 percent. This will aid users of Sprint mobile devices to talk, text, send photos and videos, and access social media sites while in attendance at the dedication ceremony.

"Almost three years ago the nation’s capital witnessed a historic attendance for President Obama’s inauguration, and Sprint learned the value of preparing its networks for the ever-engaged smartphone and tablet user,” said Bob Azzi, senior vice president of network for Sprint. "As we mark the unveiling of the MLK Jr. National Memorial, Sprint is proud to service its customers and the U.S. Park Service with a reliable Sprint 3G and Sprint 4G experience.”

Public safety officials seeking information about services from the Sprint Emergency Response Team should call 1-888-639-0020 or email ERTRequests@sprint.com. To learn more about Sprint ERT’s deployments and training activities, interested parties can also visit www.facebook.com/SprintEmergencyResponseTeam.

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 52 million customers at the end of 2Q 2011 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. 6 in its 2010 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.