Mission Critical Communications Alliance formed

Nokia has announced the formation of the Mission Critical Communications Alliance, a global collaboration of mobile operators, national and local-level public authorities and first response agencies.

The company said the aim of the alliance is to “formalise standards in the use of LTE for public safety, while enabling new ideas and partnerships to bolster momentum in application of the technology in this area”.

Nokia said the alliance will bring various stakeholders to a single platform with which to inform and guide policymakers on the benefits of LTE-based public safety solutions for the provision of high-quality and robust critical communications services.

Already more than 10 leading service providers and agencies, such as Mobile Radio Center from Japan and Vodafone Hutchison Australia, have signed up to the program.

Several countries are already upgrading their public safety systems to leverage LTE technology.

Nokia and Korea’s SK Telecom recently demonstrated the capabilities of Ultra Compact Network, a portable small cell-based LTE network that can provide 4G connectivity for public safety and other mission- and business-critical services in remote locations.

“Having worked with the various governments in the public safety field for over 60 years, we are happy to facilitate a broad group of stakeholders in the global public safety community to drive the adoption of LTE in critical communications,” Nokia Chief Customer Operations Officer Ashish Chowdhary said.

Chowdhary added that the alliance will “work towards realising the unique benefits of LTE in public safety, enabling national, regional and local authorities to provide a higher level of safety and security for their citizens, while creating innovative new business models for service providers”.

Last year, Critical Comms spoke with Hermann Rodler, the company’s then global head of public safety, about Nokia’s renewed push into the public safety communications market. You can read that interview here.