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Fremont, CA — The radio-frequency spectrum is a national resource essential to the broadcasting and wireless communications on which modern societies depend. Monitoring this spectrum for sources of interference and unauthorized signals, and managing the operations of authorized users, has become an important mission for countries at all stages of development.

In 2006, Jamaica’s Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) invested in technology from TCI International, Inc. to establish the country’s first national spectrum monitoring network. The Silicon Valley–based supplier of proprietary hardware and software provided SMA with a suite of automated systems, including both stationary and mobile units, designed to look for and identify signals of interest, and locate their geographical sources. This capability improves SMA’s ability to detect and eliminate sources of interference that degrade radio, television and communications signals, including vital frequencies used for aviation, maritime operations and emergency services.

Jamaica supplemented these systems in 2012 and again in 2015 with additional monitoring stations from TCI, as well as upgrades that introduced enhanced methods of pinpointing the spots from which unauthorized signals originate.

Supported by a TCI service contract for preventative and corrective maintenance, SMA believes its relationship with the company over the past decade has proven to be a durable one. According to Henry Batson, Director of SMA’s Spectrum Engineering Division, “Our partnership with TCI over the last 10 years has allowed the SMA to significantly improve its spectrum management capabilities.  This is a major factor in positioning Jamaica’s telecommunication infrastructure to deliver world-class services to its citizens and investors.”

Through their ongoing relationship with TCI, Jamaica’s spectrum management specialists have taken advantage of in-depth training and support opportunities offered by the company. An annual seminar at TCI headquarters in the San Francisco Bay area provides practical knowledge and technical insights on topics ranging from analyzing and tracking down spurious radio signals, to complying with radio regulations and licensing authorized broadcasters and wireless operators. Technical Training Seminars at the TCI factory also provide in-depth discussions, hands-on experience with the company’s technology and best practices for using its products.

Jamaica selected TCI based on the company’s worldwide reputation for leading-edge technology, maintenance and technical support, as well as its service to customers in more than 100 countries. For the past decade, those capabilities have been helping to manage and develop Jamaica’s growing communications infrastructure—fulfilling a commitment to make state-of-the-art communications a reality throughout the nation.

About TCI
TCI International, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPX Corporation. TCI provides spectrum monitoring, direction finding, and signals intelligence solutions to civilian, government and military agencies, as well as antennas for communications and high-power radio broadcasting. TCI is headquartered in Fremont, California. For more information, visit www.tcibr.com.

Fremont, CA — For nations in all parts of the world, the radio frequency (RF) spectrum is a realm as demanding of monitoring and protection as the physical territory a country occupies. To enhance the capabilities of those using TCI spectrum management systems (SMS) in Africa, the company will host spectrum specialists from across the continent at a User Group Forum in Gaborone, Botswana from February 23-25 of this year.

Hosted by the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), this Forum will provide an opportunity for the free exchange of ideas and experiences between subject-matter experts from TCI and African regulatory professionals as it applies to each nation’s growing communications infrastructure.

The spectrum monitoring and management mission plays a key role in developing countries. It enforces the licensing rules that enable broadcasters and wireless telecommunications providers to effectively use the radio-frequency spectrum. And it helps identify and eliminate sources of interference that degrade radio, television and communications signals, including vital frequencies used for aviation, maritime operations and emergency services.

Forum attendees will cover topics that include operational best practices and user tips, new trends in SMS applications and equipment and locating the sources of radio signals using the latest hybrid geolocation technology. Advances to be highlighted at the Forum will include TCI’s Model 709 Compact Spectrum Monitoring System (CSMS). The Model 709 is TCI’s next generation ITU-compliant CSMS built to detect and locate modern signals of interest for spectrum allocation and optimization, interference mitigation, public safety and national security missions, using modern Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) technology.

Leveraging TCI’s 50-year legacy of designing, deploying and maintaining spectrum monitoring solutions, the Model 709 offers advantages to regulators that minimize maintenance and training requirements. These features combine to reduce costs for initial procurement and installation as well as recurring costs for site leases and data links to provide an industry-leading low cost of ownership.

While enhancing their spectrum management skills and knowledge, these attendees will also inform the ongoing development of future advances in TCI spectrum management technology.

About TCI
TCI International, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPX Corporation. TCI provides spectrum monitoring, direction finding and signals intelligence solutions to civilian, government and military agencies, as well as antennas for communications and high-power radio broadcasting. TCI is headquartered in Fremont, California. For more information, visit www.tcibr.com.

Fremont, CA – The National Broadcast and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of the Kingdom of Thailand has awarded TCI a contract for 32 remote Radio Monitoring stations and four Operator Control Centers.

The TCI offer, which earned the highest technical score in the bidding competition, involves responsibility for supply, installation, testing, training and monitoring at sites in four administrative regions of the country.

The 32 remote stations to be provided under the contract are fixed sites based on the TCI Model 737 Spectrum Monitoring and Hybrid Geolocation System paired with TCI 643 Dual Polarized Antennas. The system supports monitoring and direction finding across a frequency range from 20 MHz to 3 GHz. All stations can be directed remotely from their corresponding Operator Control Centers. TCI Scorpio ITU-compliant, client-server software will provide state-of-the-art, graphic tools for the control of spectrum monitoring and geolocation activities. This project continues TCI’s legacy in the development and installation of innovative, field-proven hybrid precision geolocation technology. TCI’s Model 737 combines ITU-compliant spectrum monitoring and direction finding with time distance of arrival (TDOA) techniques in a compact, emitter geolocation solution that meets the demanding requirements of regulatory agencies worldwide.

This contract builds on TCI’s previous contributions to the continuing development of Thailand’s National Radio Monitoring System. In a prior phase, TCI supplied 13 remote stations that now keep watch over the spectrum in the country’s Northern and Eastern regions.

About TCI
TCI International, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPX Corporation. TCI provides spectrum monitoring, direction finding and signals intelligence solutions to civilian, government and military agencies, as well as antennas for communications and high-power radio broadcasting. TCI is headquartered in Fremont, California. For more information, visit www.tcibr.com.

Fremont, CA — Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has contracted with TCI for an ITU-compliant mobile radio monitoring and DF station as well as a spectrum monitoring control center. Signed on June 9, 2015, the contract is the first awarded to TCI by NTRA.

NTRA’s mobile monitoring and DF station consists of an ITU-type III GMC Savana integrated with a TCI Model 737 system — the highest-performance member of TCI’s family of spectrum monitoring systems. Assigned to monitor and DF frequencies from 20 MHz to 8 GHz, this mobile station will be equipped with a TCI 647 antenna.

NTRA’s Control Center will feature TCI’s ITU-compliant client-server Scorpio™ spectrum monitoring software to perform complex analytics on digitally modulated signals. The control center will also employ powerful Scorpio options such as Field Strength Mapping, Spectrum Analyzer, Alarms and Realtime DF.

About TCI
TCI International, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPX Corporation. TCI provides spectrum monitoring, direction finding, and signals intelligence solutions to civilian, government and military agencies, as well as antennas for communications and high-power radio broadcasting. TCI is headquartered in Fremont, California. For more information, visit www.tcibr.com.