UHF. They don’t have any point of
contact apart from the one provided
by the new TETRA network which –
organised in VPNs – can supersede the
legacy networks of each police force.”
As mentioned above, the
infrastructure rolled out by the PIT
project is for use entirely by the
different parts of the Italian national
police forces as a replacement for
their own legacy systems, which had
been deployed on an organisation-byorganisation
basis. PIT is also being
updated where required – for example,
moving infrastructure from TDM
to full IP and from dispatching only
to full control room functionalities,
such as integration with video
surveillance, location services and
workflow management, etc.
According to Veltroni, however,
the situation gets even more
complicated when it comes to critical
communications being used by other
emergency services such as the fire
and rescue service, civil protection
institutions and so on.
As he tells it, these organisations
tend to operate through the use
of regional mobile radio systems,
many of which are analogue-based.
These too are in the process of
being replaced, meanwhile, in the
first instance via the introduction
of discrete DMR networks,
eventually leading up to the planned
Fire brigades have region-wide VHF/
UHF networks, transitioning to DMR.
Medical emergencies rely on regional
or local UHF networks
implementation of a nationwide
digital backbone.
Speaking of this, he says: “In Italy
there are several emergency services
that have developed their own
infrastructures over the course of many
years. Fire brigades have region-wide
VHF/UHF networks, transitioning
to DMR. Medical emergencies rely
on regional or local UHF networks
supporting ambulances.”
Over the next few years, the fire
brigade’s regional DMR networks will
be connected by a microwave network
called CRUN, to a central control
room (CON, Centro Operativo
Nazionale) in Rome.
“Civil protection is based on
regional or local VHF networks for
institutional activities, alongside
various analogue radio networks for
volunteer organisations,” adds Veltroni.
“Medical service and civil protection
are likewise equipping themselves
with a common regional backbone
infrastructure to interconnect their
broadcasting networks.”
In regard to other mission-critical
sectors in the country, Veltroni
says railways have adopted ETCS
(European Train Control System),
alongside an attendant nationwide
GSM-R (Global System for Mobile
Communications Railway) network
for interaction between drivers
and signallers. Buses, meanwhile,
typically use public cellular
networks for location services and
operational information, occasionally
in conjunction with private
radio networks.
One area of the transport piece,
again according to Veltroni, which
has embraced TETRA is Italy’s
underground train services. This has
been demonstrated in Leonardo’s
work with the Rome Metro, in
particular the fully automated Line
C, the Milan metro and others – all
of which are using an onboard digital
radio solution.
The procurement rabbit hole
There is a nationwide TETRA
infrastructure in the process of being
deployed. Via the national system
integrators, the programme is rolling
out TETRA hand-portables for firstresponders.
Sepura’s sales manager
for Italy, Simao Rocha, explains that
this takes place in a very specific
fashion: “Selected integrators are able
to sell directly to Italian public safety.
Sepura is able to sell its terminals to
the integrators and these can then be
supplied to the end-user.
“In this manner we have been able
to provide more than 35,000 SC20
TETRA hand-portables into the
market. The SC20 had significant
April 2019 @CritCommsToday 11