Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency joins GCF

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, known as Myndigheten för Samhällsskydd och Beredskap or MSB, has become the first public safety organisation to become a member of the Global Certification Forum (GCF) as a Mission Critical Communications Operator (MCCO). GCF MCCOs are key stakeholders in the GCF ecosystem for mission-critical services (MCS), with the ability to participate in GCF meetings and agreement groups, introduce and lead work items for the introduction of new technologies and standards, access the device certification criteria (DCC) database, obtain detailed certification data provided by the mission-critical product vendors and become field trial-qualified (FTQ) networks.

The GCF and TCCA (The Critical Communications Association) recently announced the addition of broadband mission-critical services to the GCF certification program, starting with the 3GPP Release-14 MCPTT (Mission Critical Push-To-Talk) specification. The certification program helps ensure device-network and client-server compliance to standards for mission-critical devices and services, while reducing testing cost and accelerating time to market.

“For the first time, MCS product vendors can demonstrate conformance of their MCS clients and devices based on global standards maintained by 3GPP, and MSB is committed to support[ing] this certification,” said Anders Granath, System Architect working with MSB’s Rakel Generation 2 project. “Our GCF membership sends a clear message that broadband mission-critical services, based on global standards, are becoming a reality in Sweden.”

GCF CEO Lars Nielsen added, “We are pleased to welcome MSB as the first Mission Critical Communications Operator joining the Global Certification Forum. With other Mission Critical Communications Operators and mission-critical product suppliers following, making interoperable, 3GPP standards-based mission-critical services and devices will become a reality soon.”

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