ExteNet Systems Joins Safer Buildings Coalition to Establish In-Building Safety Standards

CHICAGO- ExteNet Systems, the largest private developer, owner and operator of Distributed Networks (DNS) enabling advanced mobile and broadband connectivity across the United States, today announced its membership in the Safer Buildings Coalition (SBC) to help set standards for in-building public safety wireless communications. The SBC’s primary mission is to ensure that First Responders (Fire, Law Enforcement and EMS) use state-of-the-art voice and data communications to communicate both inside buildings as well as to-and-from their Command Centers outside buildings during an event. SBC also advocates for the public’s cellular service inside buildings to function at optimal levels.

“ExteNet’s membership into the SBC comes as they are proactively looking to bring together commercial real estate (CRE) industry forces to help determine standards for in-building wireless,” stated Gregory Spraetz, SVP & GM of the Enterprise Network Solutions Business Unit at ExteNet Systems. “Our goal is to bring the neutral-host network operator focus to the coalition and help the SBC establish consistency in the standards nationwide.” 

“There are more than 6 million commercial buildings within the United States and in our survey of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) over 98% reported that buildings in their jurisdictions lack adequate in-building emergency radio coverage,” said John Foley, General Manager of the Safer Buildings Coalition. “ExteNet has a multitude of commercial real estate building networks across the country, and their experience in building robust networks, managing them and outfitting them to fit additional needs may be unparalleled. Their unique insights into tenant needs and the technical and financial challenges of the commercial real estate industry will be invaluable in helping us achieve our goal of protecting life and property.”

As ExteNet Systems looks toward expanding its footprint in the in-building wireless space, membership in the SBC highlights a continued commitment and expertise in preparing CRE for public-safety wireless communications. 

“While building owners and managers look to prepare for the future of 5G, the immediate consideration of building for public safety should be of utmost concern,” said Ross Manire, President and CEO for ExteNet Systems. “According to the FCC, greater than 70 percent of calls to 911 centers come from wireless phones. For buildings to meet in-building communication safety codes, a seamless management of communications infrastructure isn’t just a nice-to-have but an absolutely vital need.”

ExteNet kicked off its membership with the Safer Building Coalition in Dallas in June 2018 at an Arden Media led industry event which emphasized the importance of cross-industry cooperation for in-building public safety nationwide. Featured speakers included Billy Rowland, Chief Engineer of the Bank of America Plaza; Tim Danz, Chief Engineer of 345 California; Ken Grantham of the Highland Park (TX) Fire Department and Ken Rehbehn, Principal Analyst at Critical Communications besides ExteNet executives. 

About ExteNet Systems, Inc.
Lisle, Ill.-based ExteNet Systems, Inc. designs, builds, owns and operates communications infrastructure solutions, including distributed networks (DNS), for use by its customers across the United States. Customers today include wireless carriers, broadband providers, property owners, enterprises, communities and IoT companies. Primary solutions include fiber, distributed antenna systems (DAS), remote radio heads (RRH), small cells, Wi-Fi and virtualized Evolved Packet Core (vEPC). ExteNet’s outdoor networks are deployed in a variety of urban, suburban and rural environments while indoor networks are typically deployed in property verticals like commercial office buildings, sports and entertainment venues, hotels and convention centers, healthcare facilities and transit systems. For more information, please visit www.extenetsystems.com.
“ExteNet” is a registered trademark of ExteNet Systems, Inc.

About Safer Buildings Coalition
The Safer Buildings Coalition is an independent, non-profit organization focused on advancing policies, ideas and technologies that ensure comprehensive in-building communications capabilities for public safety personnel and the people they serve. The coalition brings together the expertise and resources of wireless infrastructure and service providers, fire and building code officials, and property owners to improve fire codes and accelerate their adoption and to train and educate people about public safety communications in buildings. For more information please visit www.saferbuildings.org.