MNOs
Take as many small steps
as possible as there is
plenty of learning to do as well
as possibilities to invent
something new
Agard adds that the service
provider culture needs to change, but
additionally the operational approach
taken by diff erent ministry of interiors
also needs to be transformed.
“Th is is a topic in several countries,
the journey is starting to embrace
critical broadband capabilities and
mission-critical networks – we
are working together with service
providers to create a team to
evangelise and successfully manage
the transformation,” says Agard. “Th e
government public safety operators
organise themselves. Th ey have created
the International Governmental
Operator Forum (IGOF), and one of
the reasons for this is because they want
to benefi t from sharing the learnings in
how they manage their journey.
“Th e good news is that with the early
adopters, the journey towards missioncritical
broadband has started – with
FirstNet, with Safe-Net in South Korea
– and they are sharing their knowledge,
which makes it much easier for new
players as they can knock at the door of
their peers.”
One company that clearly sees the
benefi ts TCCA off ers is Netherlandsbased
SMVNO PrioCom, which
joined the association in March. Marja
Dieben, sales manager at PrioCom,
explains that the company is addressing
mission-critical communications
outside of the realms of public safety
and is currently working to serve the
critical communications needs of
industries such as petrochemicals using
the cellular network.
“Most of the time these are onsite
local organisations, so it’s not
completely comparable in terms of
usage with public safety because they
tend to be more regional or national,”
says Dieben. “You see in industry
there is a drive for digitalisation of
business processes, and part of that
drive is they aim to get all business
processed on a digital platform, which
in turn drives the need to use rugged
smartphones. Th ey are also looking
at PTT over Cellular to have a one
device and platform solution and to
expand beyond their traditional radio
users to get more effi ciency out of their
operations. Th at part is very comparable
with public safety because the whole
digitalisation development is also
ongoing with public safety.”
She says many companies in
the private sector are already
exploring hybrid models to start this
migration process.
“What they’re looking at is the
gradual transfer of TETRA radio users
into the broadband space with PTT, so
what’s going to be absolutely imperative
is to deliver interoperability, which is
also what TCCA is driving,” explains
Dieben. “With the solution we have
in the market we are able to provide
a universal gateway to a number of
traditional radio solutions.”
Operators like PrioCom are keen to
embrace the signifi cant changes that
are currently occurring in the critical
communications market and deliver
solutions fi t for purpose. MNOs are
also shifting and adapting to meet these
needs, according to Johur.
“Most government organisations and
businesses have been using 3GPPbased
technologies for many years, but
largely in a best-eff ort environment,”
he explains. “Th e diff erence now is
that this paradigm has shifted, from a
best-eff ort world to a mission-critical
world, and a realisation that the services
that industries and governments require
have to work, and if they don’t then
there are implications to that because
more frequently businesses and lives
can depend on those communications.
Mobile network operators are now
getting to grips with what that means.
“Five years ago, a number of people
commentating on future market
trends said they weren’t sure MNOs
had the appetite to service these types
of mission-critical customers, but we
now clearly see many governments
and industries, across many countries
and regions, are proceeding with this.
Th ey’re all moving, and the MNOs are
embracing it and are transforming to
meet this new opportunity.”
For his part, Pesonen off ers fi ve key
pieces of advice to ensure all interested
parties are well placed to capitalise
on the opportunity identifi ed by
Johur. “Discuss and co-operate with
your peers internationally to identify
commonalities and diff erences, build
national strategy with all relevant
stakeholders based on local assets and
demands, ensure legal framework
accordingly, plan transition carefully in
all levels – including user organisation
standard operating procedure shift
from a narrowband to broadband
information-centric way of working,
and build common vision and cooperation
for the good of the entire
society,” says Pesonen. “Take as many
small steps as possible as there is plenty
of learning to do as well as possibilities
to invent something new that no-one
has understood before.”
Th is is something that Airbus’s
Savunen knows full well. He says
the company is currently working
with customers on several mobile
broadband projects and what he has
learnt is they are all diff erent and need
tailored attention.
“Th e starting points in the
country legislation and regulation
can be diff erent, the governmental
organisations have diff erent roles
and objectives, the business models
are diff erent, and the engagement of
user organisations can adopt diff erent
approaches, among many other
criteria,” he says. “Simply put: one size
does not fi t all.”
Confounding
some initial
predictions,
MNOs and
mission-critical
organisations
are coming
together to realise
mission-critical
broadband‘s
potential
October 2019 @CritCommsToday 23
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