Middle East turns to TETRA for new era of public safety

The Middle East is emerging as the fastest-growing market for Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), a technology evolving as the heartbeat of mission-critical communication across all major sectors in the region. 

The observation was made at a high-profile round-table hosted by Motorola Solutions at TETRA World Congress which, in its 14^th year,  was making its Middle Eastern debut in Dubai and which attracted a record-breaking 2,950 attendees from around the world.

Figures from leading analyst houseand top experts IMS Research noted that the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region experienced 70% growth in deployment of digital communications networks in 2011.

MEA now accounts for 1/5 of a global market worth an estimated US $1bn.

Based on IMS Research figures, the global market is forecast to experience a five per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) until 2016.

MEA public safety services such as police, fire and ambulance services will be particular beneficiaries of this new surge to embrace the latest TETRA technologies.

The MEA region’s focus on TETRA bodes well for Motorola Solutions, which demonstrated its innovative solutions at TETRA World Congress. Motorola’s cutting-edge technology on show at the event included the Ultimate Police Patrol Vehicle: the culmination of years of research incorporating the latest technologies and integrated controls to enable streamlined decision-making. Features include easy-to-reach controls with key functions tied to single button presses or simple voice commands while an integrated workstation runs applications such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and real-time video streaming over LTE and TEDS to empower and protect officers like never before.In addition to a heaving crowd of exhibition attendees, the vehicle attracted interest from a delegation including representatives of the Dubai government and the state’s Royal Family.

Other new technology announcements included the Motorola LEX 700, the world’s first handheld Public Safety LTE device; the new MTP3000 TETRA handheld radio series, which redefines mission-critical user safety with superior audio quality and an 14 percent larger range; and an updated version of TRACES, a unique network monitoring system that automates analysis and visualization of data.

Thomas Lynch, senior analyst, IMS Research: “The MEA market is noting the tremendous impact TETRA is having in the Eurozone and reacting to the ever-growing imperative for greater safety and security.”

Steve Valentine, head of TETRA infrastructure, Motorola Solutions: “Organizations change, processes change and you need the tools that can adapt and help you through that change. This is the beauty and value of TETRA.”

Jeppe Jepsen, director of International Business Relations, Motorola Solutions: “Public networks are like the internet and bring with them a huge array of risks and variables. We simply cannot afford that in a mission-critical world. TETRA is more akin to an intranet that can be tailored to specific needs in an extremely secure and precise manner.”

Tom Quirke, vice president and general manager, TETRA Global Organization, Motorola Solutions: “With breakthroughs such as the MTP 3000 handheld radio series, our company is helping to transform user safety, equipment ease of use, and ruggedness and operational flexibility of mission-critical operations. In addition, through our exciting technical advances in network proofing and performance, we are helping customers optimise their TETRA networks with enhanced performance capabilities and lower cost of ownership. Our continual focus on network technical innovations helps our customers deliver ‘much more with less’ while simplifying their migration to next-stage mission-critical networks.”