QUALCOMM Incorporated broke ground July 5 on its Secure Network Operations Center on a 32-acre site in the North Las Vegas, Nevada, Cheyenne Technology Corridor. The high-security facility will enhance the critical infrastructure for technology solutions used by transportation fleets to track and help secure and protect high-risk and high-value cargo.
Federal grants provided part of the funding for the facility. The $800-million project is scheduled for completion in 2006.
The multiple-building complex will house state-of-the-art systems for Qualcomm's new MediaFLO network operations center, which will distribute advanced multimedia services to 3G digital handsets. The facility will include a regional data center that will provide information technology infrastructure supporting company-wide expansion across Qualcomm's entire business. The satellite tracking and communication provider and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) also are establishing a collaborative relationship for work on homeland security initiatives.
“Nevada is proud to be a part of Qualcomm's efforts in applying wireless technologies to improve homeland security and highway transportation safety,” said Sen Harry Reid (D-NV). “We expect to see significant technological advances in homeland security from this facility, with benefits extending well beyond the borders of this state to the entire country.”
For well over a decade, the satellite communications company has been a pioneer in providing reliable and secure systems for tracking critical shipments. It is the leading provider of mobile communications and tracking services for commercial carriers that transport munitions and other sensitive loads under oversight of the Department of Defense's Transportation Tracking System. The company's satellite system was the first to meet DOD's stringent performance requirements, and has done so continuously since the late 1980s.
The new facility will enable Qualcomm to enhance its mobile data interchange capabilities, further increasing its ability to help government and commercial carriers meet any new requirements that may evolve for shipment of other hazardous materials. Enhanced mobile data interchange capabilities could allow Qualcomm to alert commercial carriers to theft of sensitive cargo and provide near real-time positioning and status information to law enforcement and other first responders to an incident.