Welcome
APRIL 2019
A spring in
theirstep
Critical Communications Today editor Sam Fenwick discusses the
recent shows that have helped to highlight the increasingly mature
and informed discussion about the transition to mission-critical
broadband and the approaches being taken by different countries
Welcome to a Critical Communications Today supplement that covers the
vast amount of information and talking points that were discussed at
both BAPCO/CCE 2019 in Coventry, UK and IWCE in Las Vegas.
Our coverage kicks o with Philip Mason’s summary of the BAPCO sessions, then
a more granular take on the CCE sessions (page 8), in which Finnish and German
public safety network operators set out their plans for the transition to missioncritical
broadband, and the benets of 5G, AI, licence-exempt or shared spectrum
and the cloud are discussed. is is followed by my IWCE review (page 14).
At both events, I was struck by the sense of purpose and condence around me. It
was great to see that manufacturers are working to address the o-network problem,
with Sonim displaying its SLED (Sonim LMR Enhanced Detachable) for its XP8
rugged smartphone at IWCE, and
Samsung Electronics investigating the
feasibility of a TETRA radio/remote
speaker microphone device.
e debate at IWCE was more
emotive – this might have a great deal to
do with the US’s sheer scale; everything
is bigger, including its problems. One
session that will stay with me forever
was a look at the challenges that
reghters faced during the Camp Fire and the other major res that took place in
California during last year’s wildre season, with nearly 1.9 million acres burned.
While we are on the subject of scale, one of the comments made during an IWCE
session on when the transition to MCPTT will take place was that it will probably
happen rst with small agencies that aren’t using (or have the budget for) modern
P25 systems. Given the speed at which they may be able to migrate onto FirstNet
for voice once its MCPTT service is up and running, there is a certain irony here
as the fragmented nature of US public safety procurement, which has beneted the
country’s LMR vendors for so long, may be setting the stage for the migration to
broadband for mission-critical voice.
The debate at IWCE
was more emotive
– this might have a great
deal to do with the US’s
sheer scale; everything
is bigger, including
its problems
Sam Fenwick, editor
MISSION STATEMENT
Critical Communications Today
provides the global missioncritical
community with insight
into the latest technology
and best practice required
to ensure that its members
always have access to the
instant, one-to-many wireless
communications that can make
all the difference inmoments
of crisis.
We are dedicated to providing
our readers with the knowledge
they need when determining
their critical communications
strategies and procurements,
though delivering up-to-theminute
accurate information on
industry trends, developments,
and deployments, as well as
the latest new products and
services. Our journalists are
committed to easing out the
little details from your peers
that will allow you to draw
on the industry’s collective
experience of deploying and
implementing new projects
andsystems.
We work to stimulate and
focus debates on the topics
that matter most and provide
our readers with a means to
raise their concerns and speak
frankly about their work and
the lessons they’ve learned
while delivering the devices and
networks that the world’s blue
light organisations depend on.
www.criticalcomms.com April Supplement 2019 3
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