The TETRA Association Technical Forum meeting #40 was hosted by HYT in Shenzhen, China at the end of January. HYT is one of many manufacturers from Asia entering the TETRA market. Asia is one of the fastest-growing TETRA markets in the world.

Teltronic launches TETRA-WiMAX project The TelMAX project, headed by Teltronic, has been selected by the Spanish Centre for Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) to develop a new professional mobile broadband communication system. The TelMAX consortium will develop a new mobile communication system with TETRA-

PITO, the Police Information Technology Organisation, has appointed Multiple Access Communications (MAC Ltd) to investigate mobile communications industry trends up to and beyond 2016. The main aim of the study is to examine what impact changes in mobile communications technology will have on the nature of public safety communications over the next ten years.

TETRA arrived in Austria just over a year ago, deployed by network operator TETRON, a joint venture between Motorola (65%) and Alcatel (35%).

Looking forward as 2007 progresses, I have to ask myself whether this coming year can possibly be as hectic as 2006. The answer is probably yes! The Association is changing to address the global membership and the global market.

TETRA terminal manufacturers have demonstrated their commitment to Direct Mode Operation (DMO) - transmission from terminal to terminal without the use of infrastructure. Suppliers submitted a total of 14 terminal models for interoperability testing.

The two-week session was hosted in London by PITO and managed by ISCOM, the official TETRA certification body. The tests were designed to assess Direct Mode 'Core' and 'Repeater' functionality. A separate test session for DMO 'Gateway', the final DMO equipment type, is planned for Q2 2007. Certificates from the test sessions are published during April 2007.

Invitation to a seminar arranged in association with BAPCO, TUESDAY 24 APRIL 2007

Brian Murgatroyd, Chairman of the Security and Fraud Prevention Group (SFPG), and TETRA Working Group 6 - Security has retired from PITO. The new Chairman is Trevor Evans, also from PITO.

Countrywide completion for Hungary's EDR network The EDR Office of the Hungarian Prime Minister's Office, Electronic Government Centre, T-Mobile and Pro-M Zrt. have jointly announced the completion of the countrywide unified digital radio telecommunication system (EDR, Egységes Digitális RádiótávközlŒ Rendszer). 

The TETRA Association welcomes the following new members from around the world:

Arico Technologies, Austria
Riigi Infokommunikatsiooni Sihtasutus/RIKS, Estonia
Beaconsim Oy (TETRASIM), Finland
Qatar Telecom (QTEL),Qatar
TetraProm LLC, Russia
Norconsult Telematics, Saudi Arabia
Dominion Technologias SLU, Spain
Swissphone Telecom AG, Switzerland

The developments in telecom, IP, computing and semiconductors are driving forward the convergence of radio communication in the 21st century. TETRA, within a decade of existence, has now established itself as the clear technology of choice for PMR Networks worldwide. This article considers TETRA today and tomorrow - the current and potential competing technologies, and their respective futures.

The majority of TETRA deployments to date are for governments. Can the cost of public safety be measured in terms of ROI?

The deployment of a public safety radio network is controlled through a need to get best value for money while fulfilling the operational requirements of that public safety organisation. Typically a government will study different technologies and solutions available in the market and identify which features best meet their requirements, from a management, regulatory, operational and financial point of view.

APD for Abu Dhabi Police
APD has won a contract to deliver its CORTEX control room, vehicle tracking, personal location, and mobile data solutions to Abu Dhabi Police, helping the force to provide a secure environment to their people. Nokia is prime contractor; main subcontractors are EADS Secure Networks for digital radio communications and infrastructure, APD for control rooms and mobile data solutions and Atlas Telecom, the in-country Systems Integrator.

AND MUCH MORE

Motorola marked 10 years of commercial TETRA with a celebration evening and the signing of the world's first commercial contract for TETRA PDAs with O2 Airwave. The MTC100 PDAs will run a suite of applications developed by O2 Airwave and help to deliver critical intelligence to front line workers in the emergency services.

The TETRA Association was delighted to join ETSI at Expo Comm in Mexico City. With a number of utility and public safety systems already implemented in Mexico, the TETRA presence generated a great deal of interest.
The TETRA Association, supported by ETSI, held a conference with local and international speakers. Phil Kidner, Association CEO, said: "I would like to thank the delegates and the speakers, some of whom travelled across the world to participate." Presentations will be made available to all members.