Finland pilots Airbus's Tactilon Agnet

The State Security Networks Group (Suomen Erillisverkot) — the public safety operator of Finland’s national TETRA network, VIRVE — is to conduct a technical and operational pilot trial to test Airbus Defence and Space’s Tactilon Agnet smartphone application, formerly known as TSA.

The application enables the secure integration of TETRA radio users with those who use Tactilon Agnet on their smartphones.

The intention of the trial is to confirm the complementarity of Tactilon Agnet’s group communication capabilities with TETRA mission-critical communications.

During the test — which will take place under the network’s standard operating conditions and will continue until the end of the year — public broadband networks and the VIRVE TETRA services will be used simultaneously.

The aim is to collect information on how mission-critical TETRA communication features can be operated in an LTE environment.

“We are very pleased that Erillisverkot has decided to launch this trial with Tactilon Agnet,” said Olivier Koczan, head of Secure Land Communications at Airbus Defence and Space.

“The fact that VIRVE users are participating in this test marks an important milestone for the development of this new technology, which is tailored to the increasing demand for broadband group communication with multimedia features.”

The Tactilon Agnet application enables smartphone users to make instant group calls (push-to-talk) and send messages to TETRA users.

Erillisverkot expects this functionality to significantly extend its communication service to governmental and other mission-critical organisations.

By extending its portfolio, Erillisverkot aims to attract new users and user groups to the VIRVE TETRA service, thus bringing new subscribers and new business opportunities.

Finland’s public safety organisations have been using the nationwide TETRA network from Airbus Defence and Space since 1998.

In 2015, Airbus Defence and Space supplied Erillisverkot with Tactilon Secure Mobile Virtual Network Operator, a solution that provides resilient and secure broadband services based on safe access to commercial LTE network services.