Our History

Buffalo New York, Motorola Authorized Elite Specialist

Saia Communications is proud to be the only local Motorola Authorized Elite Specialist Dealer located in Buffalo, New York. Please click here to see more information from Keya Rajabi, our Motorola Solutions Channel Area Sales Manager.

Serving our Two-way Radio Customers Since 1979

1979: Saia Communications, Inc. (formerly Communications LTD.) has been in the 2-Way Radio business since 1979, where we started our home in Chaffee, New York, doing repairs on various brands of two-way radios.

1983: Saia Communications, Inc. hires first employee (Bruce Heineman), erects first 200' guyed tower in Franklinville, NY. The site consisted of a 200' Rohn 55 tower and a 6' X 6' equipment shelter.

1988: Saia Communications, Inc. expands out of the house and into our present Chaffee facility located at 12530 Olean Road, where we continued to grow in the field of repair services, sales, rentals, and tower services.

Communications LTD. changes name to Saia Communications, Inc. and incorporates business.

Saia Communications Becomes a Motorola Authorized Dealer Representative

Saia Communications, Inc. became a Motorola Authorized Dealer Representative for Motorola Branded sales and the Motorola Radius Line of two-way radios and accessories.

1995: Saia Communications, Inc. constructs its first 800 MHz Motorola Privacy Plus trunked radio system in downtown Buffalo, New York.

Saia Communications, Inc. is the only local Motorola Authorized Elite Specialist Dealer located in Buffalo. Saia Communications, Inc. opens second full-service location in Buffalo, NY, becoming WNY Largest Motorola Two-Way Radio Dealer of Sales and Service.

Saia Communications, Inc. is the only local Motorola Authorized Elite Specialist Dealer located in Buffalo. Saia Communications, Inc. becomes a "preferred subcontractor" for Motorola National Service.

Saia Communications, Inc. enters first-ever national FCC auctions for 900 MHz SMR frequencies and wins two blocks for the Buffalo MTA. (Metropolitan Trading Area).

Saia Launches The First 900 MHz Motorola Trunked System in Buffalo, New York

1998: Saia Communications, Inc. constructs the first 900 MHz Motorola trunked system in Buffalo, New York, and within six months expands its 900 trunked systems into Rochester, Attica, and Machias, New York.

2001: Saia Communications, Inc. moves into a newly renovated 14,000 sq. ft. facility from our previous Buffalo facility (4,500 sq. ft.). Saia Communications, Inc. has ten factory-trained technicians and installers familiar with the complete line of Motorola equipment and other support equipment for the industrial and commercial industry.

Motorola appoints Saia Communications, Inc. as an authorized Centracom-Elite Console Dealer and permits Saia to build and market Motorola's Premier Mobile Data System.

Saia Expands Tower Locations In Upstate New York

2002: Saia Communications continues its expansion of tower sites acquiring two additional locations in upstate New York. Orangeville, NY, and South Bristol, NY towers are added.

Seeking a future need to connect all of their tower sites, Saia Communications begins installing microwave radio equipment. Sending technicians to Proxim's technical training programs, Proxim appoints Saia Communications as an Authorized Proxim reseller and installer of their microwave equipment and wireless product line.

Saia Communications offers commercial software for 2-way radio shops, custom software, and other IT services.

2004: In Saia Communications' continuing efforts to provide quality products and services to our customers in Western & Central New York, 2004 brings with it several new items.

Motorola Awards Saia Communications The Prestigious MOTO-STAR Award

2006: Motorola, Inc. awards Saia Communications the prestigious award as a MOTO-STAR dealer. Saia Communications engineers design and install a six site VHF analog simulcast system (law enforcement) in conjunction with a six-site low band voted system for the fire services in Wyoming County, NY.

AVL/GPS Add To Our Upstate New York SaiaNet Two-way Radio System

2007: Olean gets added to the list of sites available to all SaiaNet customers. AVL/GPS tracking is a welcome addition to the SaiaNet system, using a single radio that provides both voice communications & fleet tracking in one unit.

Saia picks up Code 3 line of emergency warning equipment and begins offering installation services for this type of product in police and fire service vehicles.

Motorola Manufacturer's Representative for New York State Contracts

2008: Saia becomes a Motorola Manufacturer's Representative and is authorized to sell Motorola equipment on New York State Contract.

2009: Rochester and Jamestown get added to the list of sites available to all SaiaNet customers. An upgraded, web-based AVL/GPS tracking system is brought on-line for customers of the SaiaNet system who require the tracking and logging of their vehicles.

2010-2011: Installation of two new towers in Allegany County (Wellsville & Angelica, NY) for the development and build-out of the SaiaNet trunking system. Both become part of the SaiaNet expansion.

Saia Communications is instrumental for Phase II in designing and implementing the Motorola 4.9GHz PTP (Point To Point) 27 site backbone, connecting all of Erie County's tower sites as part of the P25 system upgrade.

Saia begins the engineering & design of Motorola's latest digital wide-area trunking platform called Connect Plus. Long-term plans call for an overlay of the existing analog SaiaNet system to operate in harmony with the new Connect Plus commercial digital system (known as MOTOTRBO) using the same infrastructure and backbone.

2012: Olcott, NY SaiaNet site is turned up and becomes another site in the continued expansion of Saia's wide-area trunking network. System software upgrades and replacement of old microwave backbone equipment begins in the third quarter of 2012.

2013: Saia begins the implantation, build-out, and migration of Motorola's digital wide-area multi-site trunking system. Initially, six sites (Buffalo-2, Rochester, Attica, Perrysburg, Machias) are activated and placed into service. With digital trunking, Saia can now offer a much faster roaming between site, text, GPS for mobile & portable radios, and many features not available with an analog radio.

Saia becomes a Motorola Solutions Premium Service Provider.

Saia adds Federal Signal Corporation line of emergency warning products.

Saia is awarded an RFQ from Wayne County to upgrade its VHF simulcast system from a four-site, two-channel system to a 6-site, four-channel simulcast system. The addition of a County-wide SCADA system and upgrade their microwave backbone system from a 5.8 GHz unlicensed to 4.9 GHz engineered backbone using Cambium's latest PTP650 radios.

2014: Saia becomes Code 3 Master Distributor for Western New York.

Migration from Analog to Digital Trunking Begins

2015-2016: The migration from analog to digital trunking begins. Saia invests in a comprehensive upgrade of their microwave backhaul connecting their primary towers. The microwave equipment gets upgraded from unlicensed to licensed 11GHz links.

FCC license modification of analog licenses in preparation to convert channels to digital operations begins. Maintaining service to existing analog users without interruption of service begins, and migrating customers from Saia's analog system to their digital network is key to a successful changeover.

2017: Saia picks up the Leonardo/Selex line of infrastructure products offered by Selex. Leonardo/Selex's claim to fame is that most airports worldwide utilize Leonardo/Selex electronic instrument landing products. Operating in the U.S. for more than 100 years, Selex ES Inc. has built successful domestic and international businesses in the fields of Air Traffic Management, Critical Communications, and Law Enforcement.

2018: The Town of Cheektowaga and Saia begin discussions to upgrade the Town's 15-year-old public safety channels for fire & police services. A five-channel, six-site simulcast solution is Selected using the Leonard/Selex product. A new 11GHz licensed microwave system will be implemented to eliminate sharing IT resources between the Town and public safety communications.

Connecting The Backbone With Cambium Networks 11 GHz Microwave

2019: Saia is awarded the contract to engineer, license, and build out the five-channel, six-site simulcast radio network using Cambium Networks 11 GHz microwave as the backbone connecting the sites.

2020: In mid-March, COVID-19 strikes all aspects of Saia's customer base, COVID-19 precautions are implemented immediately. The Town of Amherst awards Saia a bid for a six-channel, four site simplex simulcast radio system utilizing the Towns 425 MHz simplex channels.

Thanksgiving, Saia decides to shut down for the week. To recover from and prepare their facilities for an internal outbreak of the virus. By December, the designs and installation for the Towns of Cheektowaga and Amherst are complete. Both systems become operational despite COVID-19.