TCCA tours Australia

The TETRA + Critical Communications Association (TCCA) made it halfway around the world to bring TETRA news to Australia.

The first Australian TETRA Tour successfully concluded at the Vibe Hotel in Sydney with vendors and delegates hopeful for future growth of the digital standard.

The tour covered three Australian cities - Perth, Brisbane and Sydney - and was held jointly by the TCCA and the Australian TETRA Forum (ATF). It consisted of workshops and an exhibition where 12 TETRA vendors showed their wares, including Panorama Antennas, Sepura, Radlink and Zetron.

At the conference, ATF chair Anton Abrahams gave the audience an update on TETRA in Australia. He spoke about the advantages of TETRA technology, the evolution of critical communications around the globe and the emphasis on the mining oil and gas industry in Australia and how that has affected TETRA use in those areas. Fifty-six TETRA systems have been installed in Australia, with 13 still works in progress.

Roger Dowling, chair of the SME Forum, also provided an update, concentrating on the modes of operation and the technology behind TETRA. He mentioned that the most TETRA installed systems were for the public safety sector, with the transport industry coming in second. He also spoke about the benefits for a multivendor open market for the industry and the individual, which increases competition and provides users with a wide range of compatible terminals.

Another highlight from the conference was personal security communications, covered by Tero Vilkesalo, international sales manager for Funkwerk Security Communications. He spoke about the advantages of a TETRA-based security system as it is suitable for combining personal security and versatile communication.

Tony Gray, chairman of the TCCA Critical Communications Broadband Group, solved the question many of us have been asking - why LTE? He said that although LTE is about super-fast IP data, it can also support fundamental features that TETRA, Tetrapol, P25, GSM-R PMR users require such as group working and speech as well as data services. He also spoke about the CCBG and its mission for harmonised spectrum and common global mobile broadband standards and solutions.

The advantages of TETRA terminal applications were covered in presentations by Terence Ledger from Sepura PLC and Hannu Aronsson, chair of the TCCA Applications Working Group.

The terminal applications are like the ones on the common smartphone, yet the terminal is not just for voice. Ledger spoke about how these applications may help users stop using multiple devices and Aronsson spoke about the TETRA Applications Working Group’s role in the development of mission-critical applications.

Other speakers at the event were Marko Jakobs from Funk-Electronic Piciorgros, Silvia Fanigliulo from the TCCA, Tony Reading, territory manager at Zetron, Miguel Aladren, VP international sales, ATF, Jim Simpson, regional manager Australasia GMG Solutions, and Tero Pesonen, director and board member for TCCA.

For more information on the tour and the presentations, please visit the TCCA website.