Southern Telecom Partners with ARCADIS to Support Atlanta’s Operation Shield

ATLANTA – Southern Telecom announced a strategic partnership with ARCADIS to support Atlanta’s Operation Shield initiative – a program that leverages communications between the Atlanta Police Department (APD) and private sector security to address crime prevention and emergency preparedness. Through the partnership, Southern Telecom and ARCADIS are providing the fiber optic and wireless network solutions supporting 92 video surveillance cameras in downtown Atlanta.

The city of Atlanta hired ARCADIS, an international company providing consultancy, design, engineering and management services in the fields of infrastructure, water, environment and buildings, as a consultant to provide engineering and integration services throughout the city. ARCADIS engaged Southern Telecom as a trusted partner and built the necessary infrastructure by combining ARCADIS’ designed and implemented wireless mesh with Southern Telecom’s fiber optic cables. The infrastructure enables surveillance connectivity to the APD’s Video Integration Center (VIC).

As part of the project, Southern Telecom provided ARCADIS a ringed dark fiber network connecting two Atlanta police stations, the VIC and backhaul from the meshed wireless video camera network.

“The partnership between ARCADIS and Southern Telecom helped make this phase of Operation Shield a reality,” said Wassim Selman, infrastructure division president of ARCADIS. “Southern Telecom’s fiber networks and the wireless video network designed by ARCADIS provide Operation Shield the necessary technology to keep Atlanta safe.”