WASHINGTON (McClatchy) — As Chicago cops braced for protests in advance of the NATO and G-8 summits in 2012, hometown radio giant Motorola made what seemed like a grand gesture.
The company, which for years has used tenacious marketing and clout to reign over the emergency radio business, donated to the city $1.8 million worth of telecom equipment that could beam data and videos to law enforcement officers shielding the world leaders.
Generosity wasn’t the only motive behind the gift.
In a letter, Motorola Vice President John Molloy said the company also could operate a network for the city as a “test platform” until year end and provide Chicago’s public safety agencies entrée to the world of emergency broadband LTE – the new global standard for transmitting huge amounts of data at rocket speed.
Motorola’s gift was designed to keep on giving.