Astrata Group Awarded Major Telematics Contract For Customs Vehicle Monitoring

The Astrata Group has announced that Geneva-based Cotecna has been awarded a major contract to produce a transit monitoring system for the Government of Senegal's customs operations. The contract, the first for Astrata in the West African country, is to provide Remotely Deployed Units (RDUs) and fixed tracking units as part of Cotecna's Transit Monitoring and Traceability solution, which is designed to remotely monitor the movement of vehicles transporting goods.

Pat Ellis, Astrata's Regional Director for Europe and Africa said, "Astrata has been working closely with Cotecna on several public sector opportunities and we are pleased to announce the first of these to come to fruition in Senegal."

"This contract for the Senegalese government project underlines our progress in marketing Astrata's advanced Telematics solutions in international markets," Ellis said.
Michel Lagarde, Vice President Institutional Business Department / Customs Support Unit with Cotecna said, "Astrata offers us flexibility in its fixed and remotely deployed tracking solutions. Astrata's global experience in providing these solutions was very important to us. It is ideally suited to the customs and excise project in Senegal."

Under the terms of the contract, transit vehicles will be equipped with either Astrata's GLP100 or RDU GPS devices. Both devices are capable of detecting a vehicle's exact location and are equipped with a communication module, which transmits data concerning the vehicle's position, speed and direction and reports on predefined events to a remote control station.

This information enables Senegal's Customs Department to enforce compliance with transit regulations and rapidly detect any abnormal behavior occurring during a journey, such as prolonged vehicle immobilization or deviation from an authorized route.

Initial delivery of the GLP100 units is scheduled for July 2008. Deliveries of the Remotely Deployed Units are set for mid-August.

Astrata's GLP100 is a compact and technologically advanced GPS tracking device specifically developed to meet the rigorous demands of fleet management and homeland security applications. A primary feature is its small, flat and lightweight form, making it easy to conceal within a vehicle. It boasts real-time monitoring, secure communications and expandability to other sensors, effectors and data devices.

Astrata's RDU is a state of the art module, which permits self-contained, battery operated tracking units to be fixed to vehicles in a matter of seconds. Using the RDU, the trucks can be monitored moving along expected routes. The RDU can easily be swapped between vehicles and is an effective tool for many situations in which vehicles need to be monitored for a limited period of time.