Airbus and its partner Telpass began upgrading the TETRA secure radio network of the metropolitan area in Bordeaux, France. By upgrading to Airbus’ switches, Bordeaux is adding an additional security level to its network, which will now have a georedundancy system.

The first tests for mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT) interoperability will take place in a few weeks. From June 19 – 23, a plugtest offers vendors a unique opportunity to validate and test products with real implementations and debug prototypes, while contributing to the standards validation effort, said industry officials.

Speedcast International signed an agreement with government satellite connectivity provider COMSAT to establish a common global service offering of Ku-band very small aperture terminal (VSAT) services for the government and maritime markets.

Teltronic, part of Sepura Group, was awarded a contract for a first-responder TETRA network for the Mexican state of Mexico through a major local system integrator.

Norsat International announced a new offer from Hytera Communications to acquire the company for cash consideration of US$11.25 per share, to increase both the Norsat and Hytera termination fees from US$2 million to US$2.5 million, respectively, and the removal of the condition that permitted Hytera to not close the transaction in the event that greater than 20 percent of Norsat shareholders exercised their dissent rights.

The U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom released changes it is making to the way spectrum in the 410 – 450 MHz (UHF band 1) and 450 – 470 MHz (UHF band 2) is managed. The spectrum serves immediate communications for businesses, emergency services, and program making and special events.

Following final approval from the U.K. government, Hytera Communications completed its acquisition of Sepura, and Sepura shares have been delisted from the London Stock Exchange.

Mission-critical communications suppliers took advantage of Critical Communications World (CCW) in Hong Kong last week to announce new products aimed at the reality of continued narrowband voice services for the foreseeable future and pending rollouts of mission-critical broadband networks around the world.

The TCCA has revamped its former Control Rooms Working Group as the International Critical Control Rooms Alliance (ICCRA), headed by Peter Prater, key account manager with Frequentis. ICCRA’s goal is to become the focus and platform for critical service control room discussion, learning and best practice development.

Freedom Communication Technologies appointed Mercury Aerospace as its distributor for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Mercury will sell the entire Freedom product line, including the R8000 and R8100 communications system analyzers, as well as new products slated for introduction during the next several months.