Mobile Satellite Ventures Expands Public Safety Communications Networks Throughout 14 Midwest States July 30, 2008 Mobile Satellite Ventures has partnered with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Response and Operations Division (IDHS) to manage and monitor the Mid-West Satellite Mutual Aid Radio Talkgroup (MWSMART) operating on the MSV satellite communications network. MWSMART is the fourth, multi-state, regional talkgroup provided gratis by MSV to facilitate rapid, reliable and interoperable communications over satellite for public safety operations and emergency responders.   Working with state and local public safety agencies, MSV has already helped establish SMART talkgroups serving 26 states located throughout the Gulf Coast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions.   In coordination with MSV, the IDHS will manage, provide 24x7 monitoring, and approve participation in MWSMART by federal, state, tribal, and local public safety agencies - and appropriate private sector users with a public safety mission - located in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.    This new mid-west regional talkgroup enables critical and interoperable communications at all levels of public safety agencies and facilities in this 14-state region.  For those agencies already using MSV's technology, these talkgroups represent a major step forward in public safety interoperability, particularly when terrestrial networks are damaged or congested. "The Indiana Department of Homeland Security and MSV are working together to enhance public safety communications throughout the Midwestern United States," said Jim Corry, vice president of Government Solutions for MSV.  "MWSMART serves as an additional communications tool developed to improve interoperability during emergencies as well as for day-to-day operations."  MWSMART joins a rapidly growing family of nationwide and regionally-focused talkgroups, provided by MSV but managed and controlled by the organizing federal, tribal, state or local agency.  These include nationwide public safety and national security/emergency preparedness talkgroups managed by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security's National Communications System (NCS).