Eurotech Wins $7.5M Contract in the United States With King County Metro

COLUMBIA, Md., March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Eurotech, a leading supplier of embedded technologies, products, and systems, today announces a contract with King County Metro Transit to deliver the DuraMAR Mobile Access Router to more than 1000 buses in the greater-Seattle area. The 24-month contract is valued at over 7.5 Million USD. With this deployment, King County enables wireless communication with diverse on-board systems, such as vehicle diagnostics, GPS, and fare collection, through a single router installed on each bus.

King County Metro Transit serves more than 1.7 million area residents, with a daily weekday ridership of more than 380,000 boardings. Eurotech's DuraMAR is a modular mobile access router and will be used to seamlessly connect vehicles to the agency's IP network through a 4.9 GHz wireless corridor or an optional integrated cellular modem.  This Cisco-based router of the DuraMAR family of products will be used to transfer electronic fare payments and other operational data to and from transit buses, provide seamless network roaming for transit signal priority operation and the display of bus departure information on electronic signs along selected corridors, and improve transit security by supporting the expanded use of on-board digital video cameras.

"Eurotech worked side-by-side with Cisco to deliver a cutting-edge mobile router solution that met our industry-leading technical requirements. The mobile router supports the integration of multiple on-board systems and should ensure the longevity of our technology investments," said Dan Overgaard, supervisor of the IT Program Management Office for Metro.  "Eurotech delivered the exact specifications we need in the DuraMAR to leverage our existing and future wireless networks using Cisco technology."

The DuraMAR® chosen by King County is an integrated rugged Cisco mobile IP router specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of trains, buses, first responders, and other service vehicles.  Taking full advantage of Cisco Systems' industry standard IOS® software with upgradeable 3200 series mobile access routing technology and a Eurotech embedded Linux wireless communication controller, the DuraMAR router will support Metro's fleet communications for many years to come.

Under the contract, Eurotech will deliver the DuraMAR to Metro in 2010 and 2011, with the option to provide additional routers for public safety vehicles and up to six years of extended warranty support.  

"We are pleased King Country Metro Transit has selected the DuraMAR with an integrated Cisco mobile router for its public transportation system," said Shannon Nix, director of Business Development, Cisco.  "The DuraMAR has been designed to deliver a flexible and seamless mobility solution that will work across multiple wireless networks."

"Cisco's strengths in networking technology combined with Eurotech's focus on systems and application-ready platforms delivers a solution progressive transit agencies can rely on for years," explained Greg Nicoloso, Chief Executive Officer of Eurotech Inc. "Our partner model with a company like Cisco allows us to help agencies transition to new technologies over time while maintaining the value of the original investment and extending the lifetime of deployed systems."

About Eurotech

Eurotech is a listed global company (ETH.MI) that integrates hardware, software, solutions and expertise to deliver embedded computing platforms and sub-systems to leading OEMs, system integrators and enterprise customers for successful and efficient deployment of their products and services. Drawing on concepts of minimalist computing, Eurotech lowers power draw, minimizes physical size and reduces coding complexity to bring sensors, embedded platforms, sub-systems, ready-to-use devices and high performance computers to market, specializing in healthcare, defense, transportation, industrial and energy segments. By combining domain expertise in wireless connectivity as well as communications protocols, Eurotech architects integrated solutions that simplify data capture, processing and transfer over unified communications networks. Our customers rely on us to simplify their access to state-of-art embedded technologies so they can focus on their core competencies. Learn more about Eurotech at www.eurotech.com.

SOURCE Eurotech