Ken Anderson

Ken Anderson, Senior Director, Technology, Bechtel Telecommunications, Commercial Keynote
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Ken Anderson, Senior Director, Technology, Bechtel Telecommunications

Ken Anderson, Senior Director, Technology, Bechtel Telecommunications

The Commercial Keynote will be by Ken Anderson, Senior Director, Technology, Bechtel Telecommunications.

Citing lessons learned from Verizon Communications' attempts to re-establish communications in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York, Ken Anderson, the senior director of technology for Bechtel Telecommunications, suggested Free Space Optical (FSO) as a recommended solution in a disaster-recovery situation.FSO is a wireless technology that uses lasers to transmit broadband data.It depends on line-of-sight transmitters and receivers.

"Restoration of mobile communications is the number one priority in a disaster recovery," said Anderson, who noted at the Wireless Communications Association International event that cellular towers proved too prone to interference after Sept. 11 to be effective."What's needed is a non-interfering, non-licensed technology.Free Space Optical is a good, logical choice."

Anderson noted that in addition to being easy and inexpensive to deploy, FSO boasts a high capacity for data transmission (1 megabyte per second) and is very secure, with a low probability of intentional or unintentional interference.He said both Verizon and the Defense Department have plans to deploy FSO in disaster situations.

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