Cassidian, an EADS Company, and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced a joint development agreement under which the two companies will provide an innovative mobile broadband solution for emergency response and security communications systems operating in the 400 MHz spectrum band.

Using LTE technology, the joint Alcatel-Lucent and Cassidian offering will support broadband data services such as mobile video security, location-based video services and smart vehicle integration of devices and applications to complement the current voice and data systems.

Cassidian will develop radio heads and terminals specific to the needs of these systems in the 400 MHz spectrum. The low frequency and high power characteristics of these radio heads will allow cost-effective coverage and wide bandwidth services. Cassidian will also lead marketing and sales efforts for the solution in the public safety and defence markets where the 400 MHz spectrum is in use.

Alcatel-Lucent will leverage its leadership in LTE with Cassidian to jointly integrate and validate the entire solutions and will lead marketing and sales efforts in transportation, energy and other industries.

“We are looking to accelerate mobile broadband data capacity for government users and to integrate this within the 400 MHz Cassidian Full Circle Security collaborative environment for our Public Safety and Defence users. This will combine the strengths of our professional mobile radio offering with the next generation of networks and applications,” said Hervé Guillou, CEO of Cassidian Systems. “We will work closely with Alcatel-Lucent, a leader in LTE and wireless technology.”

“Broadband capacity is becoming a critical ingredient of public safety communications, delivering new mission-driven applications such as video-based situational awareness that were impossible before,” said Tom Burns, President, Enterprise and Strategic Industries, Alcatel-Lucent. “By working with Cassidian, a leader in the public safety and defence segments, we will make our best-in-class LTE technology available to all professional users and organisations.”

Ken Rehbehn, Principal Analyst at Yankee Group, believes, "The Cassidian and Alcatel-Lucent partnership is important because it establishes a strong ecosystem foundation needed for transformation of public safety mobile data from its current primitive state to a fast, richly functional mobile data network meeting the needs of our emergency services."

Cassidian and Alcatel-Lucent will both be present at the TETRA World Congress in Budapest, Hungary, from 24 to 27 May, 2011, and will use this occasion to unveil more details of their joint solution.