Friday fragments - comms news from around the web for 6 February 2015

A round-up of the week's critical communications and public safety radio news for Friday, 6 February 2015.

ABC tower torn down. An ABC radio antenna tower in Brisbane that was last used in 2006 has been demolished as workers prepare the site for a new residential development.

Military tests interoperability in Germany. US Air Force and Army units came together last month at Ramstein Air Base for the Juniper Thunder joint communications exercise to test interoperability between the two branches. “Being a part of Juniper Thunder and exercises like it help identify interoperability issues in a controlled environment," said Army Capt. John Verwiel. “Now, we are working to fix those concerns during the exercise so we don't have these issues when we deploy together and fight the common fight."

Germany to auction 700 MHz in May. Germany's spectrum authority, the Federal Network Agency, will hold an auction for 700 MHz spectrum in May, with some analysts expecting it to raise US$5.1 billion. By comparison, the Netherlands raised US$4.3 billion back in 2012.

Rio railway goes TETRA. Austrian company Kapsch will provide TETRA infrastructure for Rio de Janeiro's new Line 4 metro railway, including four base stations, 30 in-train radios and 140 handsets.

Radio volunteers rewarded. A volunteer radio group in the UK that helped provide communications during certain stages of the Tour de France has been rewarded with £5,500 worth of radio equipment