Cassidian Assists Key Early Response to Christchurch Earthquake

Remember that huge earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand? The one before the huge Japanese one, yes.

Cassidian, an EADS (News - Alert) company, responded to multiple requests for increased mission critical communications capacity in the aftermath of the February 22 earthquake which pretty much leveled the downtown area of Christchurch, the second-biggest city in New Zealand. As is usual, it wiped out a good portion of the power lines, landline and cellular network capability along with the buildings.

Fortunately, the city’s public safety radio communications system survived the initial quake and aftershocks without a single site going down, so became the main source of communication. The network – a Cassidian CORP25 digital trunked Land Mobile Radio system, was installed in 2008 for the New Zealand Police.

Within three hours after the quake, certainly the greatest natural disaster to hit New Zealand in living memory, Cassidian increased the Subscriber User licenses from 1700 to 2200, and a little while later approved another 500 licenses in “under 20 minutes.”

Search teams are still sifting through the destruction, estimating that when the final tally is known, the death toll will rise from the current 169 to 182. The disaster will cost approximately $12 billion, according to government estimates, which for an agricultural-based country with roughly the population of Los Angeles is a significant expense.

Mike Head, Systems Manager, Tait Radio Communications, the network’s installer, noted that Cassidian delivered “exactly what we asked for and even faster than expected.” The countrywide CORP25 network covers three key regions – Canterbury (Christchurch), the national capital of Wellington and the major city of Auckland.

Chuck Sackley, vice president and General Manager, Cassidian Communications, Land Mobile Radio, called it “very rewarding to know that our forces were able to come together with the singular goal of helping those in need.”