Backhaul: Industry happenings of yesteryear

25 YEARS AGO. The cover of the December 1991/January 1992 issue of What’s New in Radio Communications featured the Tait T2000 mobile radio, designed to be rugged and reliable for the harsh conditions often encountered in Australia, as well as compact for easy mounting in vehicles. Inside the magazine, we reported on Philips Mobile Communications Systems signing an agreement with OTC Trunked Radio Systems to become a major airtime reseller on the OTC public trunked wide-area radio network. Motorola shipped its 50,000th Syntrx FM two-way radio, destined for the Western Australian Police Department (which had around 1500 such units in operation). And Optus and two telecommunications unions (ATEA/APTOA and APTU) announced they had concluded preliminary negotiations covering the new telco’s operations. This issue also had a special section announcing the introduction of the Motorola ASTRO radio system.

10 YEARS AGO. Sticking with the Tait theme, the cover of the November/December 2006 issue of Radio Comms Asia-Pacific featured the Simoco TSF2000 next-generation small base station, a key component of the company’s Xfin Blade trunked radio system. Xfin combined MPT1327, telephony and IP onto a single platform. Elsewhere in the magazine we reported on EMC testing firm Compliance Engineering opening its doors in Melbourne; a new 288-channel voice recording system for the NSW Police, which Addcom designed, implemented and commissioned in just 15 days; and we had several articles on the challenges of implementing monitoring systems in tunnels and on towers. And in a very prescient opinion piece, Peter Baines, MD, Tait Oceania, wrote, “We are stepping into a converged future where radio and information technology will integrate to redefine the way public safety agencies communicate.”