The TETRA MoU Technical Forum Inter-System-Interface (ISI) follow-up workshop, hosted by Nokia on June 19th in Helsinki, achieved major progress in the development of the Inter-System-Interface specification between different manufacturers' TETRA infrastructure.
Until now the lack of such an interoperability specification has prevented the professional mobile radio industry from following through with one of the big promises of the TETRA standard - the capability to operate in more than one TETRA network.
Nokia has been the driving force for a new proposal, which has been agreed to as a draft for the TETRA Interoperability Profile (TIP) for ISI. The proposal fully covers the functionality requested by the TETRA MoU Operator/User Association (OUA) for the first phase of ISI, and to a great extent also for the second and third phase. The proposal enables TETRA manufacturers to implement interoperable ISI, thus enabling TETRA customers to perform cross-border communication as required by the Schengen treaty or to purchase their network from more than one manufacturer.
The TETRA operator and user community were pleased with the progress made in Helsinki, and especially with the accelerated ISI TIP specification schedule. The broad consensus that prevailed at the workshop resulted in the decision to have the TIP specification proposals entered into the TETRA MoU Members Enquiry. This represents a breakthrough towards ISI and a further milestone on the way to opening the TETRA market in line with customer requirements.
"Based on the work we did in Helsinki we can now see the concrete roadmap towards the situation where we can interconnect to neighboring countries and fulfill the requirement of the Schengen Treaty," said Chris Drieskens, the technical director of A.S.T.R.I.D from Belgium.
"All TETRA vendors want to ensure an open TETRA market and the interoperability between vendors. We wish to expand and enable competition also in the TETRA ISI by providing the TETRA community with TIP specification for ISI - it will work as a catalyst to the whole TETRA business," said Hans Holmberg, vice president, Professional Mobile Radio, Nokia Networks. "Furthermore, we saw the urgency to write the specification so that the products can come to market on time. Nokia is planning to release the TIP specification for ISI phase 2, including group and emergency communication over ISI, later this year."
Nokia is the world's leading supplier of TETRA networks and terminals, offering the most modern countrywide digital radio communication solutions for public safety organizations. Special features particularly for the use of authorities include: top-class communication security, fast group calls, sophisticated emergency call functionality, prioritized calls, advanced messaging and data communication services, including packet data. Nokia has a proven track record on delivering multiswitch TETRA networks providing all services countrywide. The open interfaces of Nokia TETRA solutions enable seamless integration to Command & Control Systems.
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
Further information:
Communications Department, Nokia Networks
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Email nokia.networks@nokia.com
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