Middle East
10
The Middle East
The Middle East is a hugely important market for the critical
communications sector, given its appetite for the latest technology.
But how has the region been faring recently? Sam Fenwick investigates
www.criticalcomms.com September 2019
Humanity has always been
an industrious species,
and perhaps there is no
place in the world where
this is so apparent as the
great cities of the Middle East, where
giant constructions of steel and glass
burst from the dry desert fl oor like huge
mushrooms after a deluge. In such a
place, it’s little wonder that there is a
strong desire to embrace the newest and
most innovative technologies.
“If you were to step off a plane
or come to either Dubai or Riyadh,
you’ll see that the region is pioneering
the use of advanced technologies
especially when it comes to ecommerce,
smart cities, innovative energy and
transportation solutions, much more so
than in Europe,” says Andrew Forbes,
head of Middle East North Africa region
for Secure Land Communications of
Airbus, who has spent the past fi ve and
a half years in the Middle East. “Cities
are growing quickly and you can almost
see the rate of progress in the billboards
and the signs as you drive around.
Th ese technologies are making citizens’
lives easier and they’re adding a level
of complexity that the mission-critical
professionals, the fi refi ghters and the
police who support them want as well.”
He gives an example of one such
application of digital technology:
“When you arrive in Saudi Arabia
to start work in the Kingdom you
devices as well, so the use of broadband
by critical communications users has yet
to really impact the TETRA market.
Th at said, he adds there is
“probably no discussion in the critical
communication world any more
that does not refer in some form to
LTE”, and the Middle East’s enduser
organisation and governments
are “thinking ‘should we go for it,
how do we implement it, what are its
limitations, is it fi t for purpose, is it
worth the investment in money, is it
worth the considerable investment in
time and the deep dedication required
to plan its design and deployment?’”.
Experience and convergence
Part of the interest in mission-critical
broadband is stemming from
users’ experience with their consumer
smartphones altering their expectations.
“Public safety organisations’ staff are
used to and expect the features that they
get from mobile phones, so having to
use devices that may be a better fi t for
their professional requirements
There is probably no
discussion in the critical
communication world any more
that does not refer in
some form to LTE
are photographed at airport passport
control. Th is photo is then used for your
resident’s ID and driving licence, with
the various government agencies being
interconnected digitally. Electronic
gates are speeding up the entry and
exit process.”
However, despite this energy and its
apparent appetite for new technologies,
the region has seen a bit of a lull in
terms of mission-critical broadband, as
Peter Clemons, founder of Quixoticity
and global advisor to Genaker,
explains. “Following Qatar MoI’s early
deployment of a private LTE network
back in 2011/12, there was a lot of
activity in the region from other leading
markets in the Middle East such as
UAE and KSA (the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia) either to assign frequencies for
private/public safety LTE or encourage
studies into its viability. Pilots/early
contracts followed in 2016/17, but no
widespread deployments have since
been announced. However, following
the maturing of global MCPTT/MCX
standards, there is now a renewed eff ort
to bring public safety communications
into the broadband era with more
integrated hybrid commercial/private,
narrowband/broadband solutions.”
Karl Whyte, Sepura’s managing
director – Middle East, says that
typically the organisations that have
fl eets of broadband devices still also have
their employees or offi cers carry TETRA
/www.criticalcomms.com