Network operators
“One particular solution that many countries are
interested in is the air-to-ground network and devices, as
this has not been implemented anywhere else in the world,”
says the spokesperson.
ey add that an interesting knock-on eect from the
implementation of ESN has been the impact it has had on
the supplier side. “e move to 4G LTE has helped open up
the market of suppliers, as we are now able to procure from
suppliers that before would only have been selling into the
commercial market. is is helping us to be more innovative
and drive down costs.”
As users transition to ESN and are able to start exploiting
the benets of 4G LTE, the Home Oce anticipates that
“the market for devices should widen as the requirements
become broader and a wider range of devices are needed to
support those requirements”.
Will all networks become critical?
e UK’s experience will no doubt provide a number of
key learnings to public service operators from around the
globe who are looking to make the switch to mission-critical
broadband. Going forward, it’s highly likely that advances in
technology will help to smooth out some of the challenges
that countries like the UK have already encountered.
For instance, Tor Helge Lyngstol, special adviser at the
Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) – which
operates Nødnett, the country’s nationwide TETRA
network – sees a time when there will be no requirement for
a dedicated radio network for public protection and disaster
relief (PPDR) communication as it will be embedded in 5G.
“Follow this logic,” says Lyngstol. “It is envisaged that
the 5G networks will be used for a lot of critical things.
For it to be possible to use them for all the purposes that
are currently mentioned, the 5G networks will have to
be robust, secure and so on. And coverage will have to be
‘everywhere’, as it will be too much of a drawback for any
part of our country to be outside 5G coverage. Furthermore,
if the 5G networks are used for only a fraction of the
purposes that are mentioned, these networks will be society’s
most critical infrastructure.”
In conclusion, he says it is not practical to build a
dedicated network for PPDR that has more rigorous
requirements than a 5G network as it would be prohibitively
expensive to build. “But PPDR’s requirements will be a
catalyst for the construction of good 5G networks, and
5G networks must also full PPDR requirements. is is
one of the reasons why we are co-operating so closely with
the regulator and why the Ministry of Justice is co-operating
with the Ministry of Communication on a future
communications system for PPDR.”
Jarmo Vinkvist, CEO of Suomen Virveverkko (the
operator of Finland’s nationwide TETRA network), part
of Erillisverkot Group, also sees the arrival of 5G as a
catalyst for change in the critical communications sector.
“We recognise and accept that future is unknown,” says
Vinkvist. “We don’t know exactly how information-centric
operations will be in the 5G era. erefore, we try to have
in-built exibility and forward-looking capabilities for early
identication of trends and possibilities.”
He adds that the introduction of critical broadband
presents a host of new challenges and opportunities for the
public safety sector that previously didn’t exist, and this means
greater levels of collaboration will be required.
“In the near broadband future our role will be the critical
communications service operator, while radio access will be
provided by a commercial operator,” says Vinkvist. “In this
operational mode, deep and close co-operation with the radio
access provider is mandatory. is is most of all a task that
requires co-operation with user organisations. We jointly
have a lot of unknowns and plenty of planning to do to tackle
this. To be successful with such a demanding project, we
must do this together nationally and internationally.”
Lyngstol agrees that greater collaboration is needed to
ensure the migration to mission-critical broadband runs
smoothly. To this end, in Norway the Directorate for Public
Protection is already co-operating with telecom regulator
Nkom to nd “the best solution”, and Lyngstol says there are
also “good discussions between our Ministry of Justice and
the Ministry of Communication – the Ministry of Health is
also involved”.
is is not the only area where future collaboration
between organisations is going to be vital for public safety
operators. Cyber security has been identied as one of the
most important topics for public safety operators and many
experts believe it is crucial that a common approach to cyber
threats on a global level is found. is is a key priority of
IGOF, as BDBOS’s Held explains: “e group will put its
focus particularly on security in broadband environments,
especially on hybrid networks and devices as well as cyber
threats. In addition, IGOF will facilitate the exchange
of information and experience with their peers, critical
communications users, industry and other interested parties.”
It is abundantly clear that public safety operators face a
growing number of major challenges in the coming months
as they look to upgrade existing TETRA systems or make
the switch to mission-critical broadband. However, greater
levels of collaboration and co-operation at a national and
international level should help operators overcome many of
these challenges.
Given the
extremely high
requirements
of many 5G
use-cases, 5G
may eventually
mean the end of
dedicated public
safety networks
Adobe Stock/jamesteohart
We don’t know how informationcentric
operations will be in the 5G
era. So we try to have in-built exibility
and forward-looking capabilities for
early identication of trends
16 www.criticalcomms.com June 2019
/www.criticalcomms.com