IS THIS THE END FOR TETRA?

Mission critical communications is heading for a transformation. Tetra standard has served the officials well for 25 years, but it cannot cope with the new requirements for broadband data. It is time to bid farewell to Tetra.

It is a bit cheeky to pronounce any technology obsolete, especially when it is used daily in many parts of the world. In Finland alone there are more than 50 thousand Tetra terminals connecting to the nation-wide Virve network every day.

And if you ask Francesco Pasquali, the chairman of TETRA industry group at TCCA, he´ll be upset.- The news of Tetra dying are absolutely false. We are still developing the standard and focusing on both broadband and adding security, Pasquali said in Critical Communications World 2023 in Helsinki in May.

But Timo Lehtimäki, the CEO of Erillisverkot says it is time for Tetra to retire.- We´ll be closing our Tetra network by the end of 2028, says the head of company that operates the Tetra based Virve network in Finland.

The big transition in mission critical networks refers to new requirements of networks. The amount of data is increasing, so various authorities have a big need for broadband data connections. This need is widely recognized in the industry, but the solutions in different countries differ. In Finland, a hybrid model has been chosen, where Virve and LTE/5G operate side by side during the transition period.

This transition time is needed for many reasons.- It will take time before, for example, the police vehicles are equipped with new equipment, Lehtimäki clarifies.

Some concern has been caused by whether there will be sufficient coverage throughout Finland after 2028. The police and other officials need to be able to operate even remote places, like the long eastern border of Finland, the new NATO country. Lehtimäki believes that the situation is actually getting better.

- The coverage of our Tetra based Virve has never been 100 percent. With mobile networks and satellite connections it is possible to reach a coverage of 100 per cent.

Lehtimäki refers to the new 5G standards, which also support calls via satellites. It is clear that building mission critical connections after Virve will be "super expensive", as Lehtimäki says.

- This is not just a base station issue. Electricity supply and core networks connection must be taken care of there. Of course Elisa was aware of this, she refers to Erillisverkko´s operator partner in the transition.

The advantage of Virve has been the frequency it is using. At 400 megahertz, the base station can reach a distance of 50 kilometers. In this way, it has been possible to cover sea areas in the Gulf of Finland, for example. There have been base stations on the Estonian side, so there have been no gaps in the sea either.

5G uses higher frequencies, so coverage requires a lot more base stations. And in the future, remote areas will be managed with satellites. At the end the aim is to run mission critical connections everywhere, even in remote Lapland like the Urho Kekkonen National Park, where Virve never worked.

The broadband transition was clear in the CCW23 exhibtion floor. Motorola presented a networked police car that had been driven across Europe to Helsinki. The car has, for example, the M500 video system, whose LTE connection enables continuous video streaming, real-time alarms and evidence recovery. Operational tasks can be managed via Apple CarPlay with the PSCore application.

On their booth Motorola also showed a new Tetra terminal, which also works on the LTE networks. Next to the new Tetra radio phone, i.e. the MPX600 model, a large screen is very visible. It is easy to imagine a police checking video streaming to the screen from command center. The device works on the Tetra network by default, but the connection can be selected from the menus as needed.

Digitization, broadband connections, artificial intelligence and analytics are also coming to the use of the authorities. However, development is slow. According to the Omdia research institute's forecast, in 2026, approximately 82 percent of the goverment radios devices will be digital. The old analog radiotelephone, especially in the P25 network in the US is still running strong.

And when will the police get their hands on a 5G phone that also works on the Tetra network? The reasons for the slow digitalization of the police are both technical and political, or actually business-related. According to Motorola, this depends on demand. There are countries in Asia that want to switch to the use of 5G networks, and the Nordic countries would also be ready for it quickly, but without terminals it will not be possible. And if there are no volumes, there will be no devices.

The need is obvious. 10 years ago, the police still went to the scene of an emergency or crime with a notepad. Nowadays, it is well known from studies that without video, a large part of minor crimes remain unsolved. It is clear that the equation must be solved somehow.

In the future mission critical communications will not be just about high bandwidth. Police will be equipped with bodu-warn cameras. During CCW23 Motorola announced that they´ll be equipping the whole force of London City policw with VB400 body-warn cameras. In a way the BWC is a two-way device. It helps to ensure the safety of the citizens, but it also promotes transparency and accountability of the police work.

The VB400 system is designed to streamline an officer’s workflow. After a shift, officers simply place the VB400 into its dock where it will automatically upload footage of the day’s events into VideoManager evidence management software. VideoManager will store the data in-country and organize it with time, date and location details along with supporting incident data reported by officers.

And in remote places drones will be used to set up mission critical connections. At CCW23 Nokia showed the foirst ever CEcertified, turnkey drone-in-a-box solution. The solution meets the EU safety requirements as the Nokia Drone Networks solution connects over public and private 4G/LTE and 5G networks for first responders and other professionals.