TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) based networks are being used and will be for the foreseeable future by many countries around the world. Although the technology is still viable, governments have started testing and putting in the groundwork to start delivering public safety communication with LTE (News - Alert) and other technologies. Finland is one of the countries that are in the midst of transferring their TETRA public safety networks to one that is based on LTE. A new network trialed by Telia Finland is able to prioritize emergency communications during busy LTE usage, allowing first responders and others to get through and provide services to people in need.
The TETRA standard was developed by ETSI (News - Alert), European Telecommunications Standardization Institute, for a common mobile radio communications infrastructure throughout Europe. But developing technologies in digital communications are leading municipalities across Europe to start looking into new solutions that can exploit available infrastructures to deliver better services for their citizens.
Telia Finland started the trail last year in collaboration with the country's State Security Networks organization using Nokia (News - Alert)'s LTE RAN infrastructure. The company tested out several scenarios, which included the ability to deliver priority communication in a large venue during an ice hockey game.
Tommi Uitto, Head of Global Product Sales, Mobile Networks at Nokia, said, “The test results show that we can prioritize public safety communication over an LTE network, even when that network is extremely busy. We can use this insight to accelerate the adoption of LTE-based public safety applications, not only here in Finland, but across the globe.”
Nokia has a range of products designed to address emergency communications. This includes the ViTrust range of critical communications services and Flexi Zone. ViTrust provides critical communications range with a new Ultra Compact Network and new data solution for emergency services, which has been expanded by the company. It can now host application services such as push-to-video, as well as the video analytics and geo-localization.
This includes the Flexi Zone small cell radio and integrated core technology, which is capable of connecting 400 users in minutes without the need of additional computing devices using a graphical interface to speed up the set-up process and configuration. Flexi Zone has capacity to meet huge data demand using 3G/LTE/Wi-Fi-capable small cells by offloading traffic from a macro network to an underlay street-level and indoor network.
“Everyone understands the importance of public safety communication in exceptional circumstances. The successful trials show that by combining advanced technology know-how, together with deep experience of providing mission-critical services we can pave the way for future solutions,” said Pasi Mehtonen, Head of Operator Business at Telia Finland.
Nokia has announced new models that can be carried by one person in a backpack, a vehicle mounted network and a rack-mounted fixed installation version that can adapt to multiple deployment scenarios. This type of flexibility makes it possible for emergency service providers to continue having reliable communications even when the infrastructure may be damaged.
