Chattanooga and Hamilton County officials are using the Riverbend Festival to test a large mesh network that provides fast wireless access for public safety applications.

The network, which is deployed by Motorola and its partner, Excalibur Integrated Systems, gives officers the ability to monitor in real time 16 cameras placed on the North Shore, Coolidge Park, Renaissance Park and along the festival site. The network also provides fast Internet access for officers to file reports or look up suspect information.

“This is the culmination of a lot of work, a lot of collaboration and a lot of preparedness,” said Roger Jenkins, president and CEO of Excalibur.

The network, which is faster than those accessible by air cards, was set up and linked with applications such as the cameras. It is not accessible to the public because it is a private government network.

Other cities, including Nashville and Knoxville, as well as the state of Georgia, have expressed an interest in visiting Chattanooga to learn more about the mesh network.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.