Nordics
Danish administration is now in the process of tendering
communications services for public safety.
The Danish police are already making use of various
applications on smartphone devices. These communications
(including real-time data, video and images) take place over
a mobile operator’s LTE network, with a security solution to
protect the confidentiality of the data.
Elsewhere, the Finnish police are at the forefront of using
drones in everyday operations, with more than 400 trained
drone pilots in service and 200 aerial vehicles in official use.
Superintendent Sami Hätönen of Finland’s Police University
College regards their introduction as “the start of a success story”.
Meanwhile, some verticals are beginning to make
their own moves into 5G independently. For example,
Boliden’s Kankberg mine in Sweden installed a 5G network
underground with the help of Telia in July last year.
Ultra-low latency offers prospects for remote operation of
machinery, closer process monitoring, vehicle tracking for
safety and higher productivity, local data handling and the
introduction of myriad other industrial Internet of Things
(IoT)-related applications, such as energy-efficient smart
ventilation systems – all on the same voice and data network.
Flight of fancy
Drones are used not only to track fleeing criminals, but also
in crime scene investigations, search and rescue operations
and crowd surveillance – most famously the Trump-Putin
Summit in Helsinki in July 2018, Finland’s presidency of the
Council of the European Union (between July and December
last year) and during Independence Day celebrations.
Drones are equipped with diverse sensors, including video
cameras, thermographic cameras, LED lights and more. When
Virve 2.0 services are available in Finland, police drones are
expected to be used in conjunction with the new network.
The Finnish Border Guard is piloting a more advanced
drone solution, following a successful trial period at the
close of 2017. While the organisation was known to have
around 50 drones in operation at first (utilised in a range
of surveillance activities as part of field tests and personnel
training), the new system will be activated automatically on
receiving an alert from existing border control technology.
This recognition system utilises artificial intelligence (AI)
for the interpretation of images in order to ascertain whether
a human or animal is moving in the target area.
This device transfers the images over a wireless network to
the hub, from where they are transferred to the control room.
The Border Guard’s Valvonta 2 project last year also explored
the possible use of sensor-equipped unmanned vehicles in the
northern reaches of the Baltic Sea.
The scenarios covered included surveillance of sea and
water areas, waterways and the archipelago, monitoring and
checking of containers, oil tanks and other stationary facilities
at ports, and environmental accident management. Drones
remove the need to dispatch a helicopter or boat.
The other Nordic countries are also quite far along in
embracing drones for search and rescue purposes. With
the cost of helicopters proving increasingly restrictive, the
Norwegian authorities were already exploring UAVs as long
ago as 2016.
The first exercise took place in conditions of -15°C in
Bykle Setesdal, involving 250 personnel from the police, fire
department, International Red Cross, army and air force. The
Altura Zenith system gave an aerial overview with optical
and thermal cameras – transferring images to base camp and
police command using mobile networks.
In late 2017, Copenhagen Police deployed a drone as
part of its surveillance operations on cannabis buyers in the
Christiania area – an effort that resulted in the detention of
60 people on narcotics charges and the seizure of nearly 12
kilograms of the drug.
Since then, UAS Denmark has recognised the appeal of
reduced cost (over the use of helicopters) and improved safety
offered by drones in road and rail inspections (removing the
need for rope inspectors), as well as the capability to monitor
longer stretches at lower cost, and for effective image capture
even in overcast conditions.
Two-way radio will continue to have a place in public safety
and various other verticals for some time yet, but for the
emergency services in the Nordics the emphasis over the next
few years will be on managing their migration to missioncritical
4G LTE.
Drones are being
used to patrol
long land borders
and sea coasts, as
well as in cities for
major events and
drug surveillance
March 2020 @CritCommsToday 13