Until the mid to late 1990s, the Latin American communications industry was dominated by North American technologies. The advent and widespread success of GSM, an ETSI standard, changed the communications landscape dramatically and opened the way for other communications standards developed in Europe, such as TETRA.

Doug Gray, one of the most popular people in the TETRA world, has retired as the Chairman of ETSI TC TETRA after over seven years in office. Doug was presented with a plaque by the Secretary of TC TETRA, Ken Oborne, at the October plenary meeting held at ETSI Headquarters in Sophia Antipolis.

The UK’s Airwave and Broadcast Australia, have formed a joint venture to deliver large-scale, critical communications services to Australia’s public safety organisations.

The TETRA Association welcomes the following new members:

This edition of TETRA News has been published to support the Association’s events being held in Chile and Brazil, so I would like to extend a warm welcome to visitors to our conferences and exhibitions in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro. South America is one of the most vibrant communications markets in the world. We are working with governments, regulators, manufacturers and suppliers to provide help and support as TETRA is adopted throughout the region.

Data applications are an important TETRA network and terminal feature for users. The TETRA Association Technical Forum’s Applications Working Group (Apps WG) exchanges information regarding TETRA data applications, helps make applications interoperable across different suppliers and platforms, defines requirements for data applications and plans for future features and interoperability.

Radio IP Software chose the 2009 TETRA World Congress in Munich to demonstrate for the first time, next-gen Mobile VPN technology advancements, namely “Concurrent VPN”.

A new solution which will enhance the safety of paramedics has been launched by Airwave in the UK.

News in brief from around the world

Europe is moving forward with the Digital Dividend and defining new use for the analogue TV spectrum between 790 and 862 MHz. The PMR community responded to the Commission’s public consultation concerning the Digital Dividend in early September with joint comments from 13 associations, users and manufacturers.

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in the UK has rolled out Sepura’s Radio Manager Server version with remote clients located in the majority of its police stations. 

The TETRA Association event in New Delhi proved the place to do business, as over 200 attendees checked out the conference and the exhibition.