The Middle East and Africa (MEA) will experience the fastest rate of digitization in the world, according to analysts IHS Markit. Shipments of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and other technology increased by more than 300 percent during 2015, and the MEA region is projected to be one of the world’s fastest growth markets for TETRA technology.

ABI Research announced that the critical communications market, comprised of industrial/business, public safety, transportation and utilities business segments, is poised for solid growth during the next decade. The global market is on track to top $8 billion in 2017.

Rivada Mercury announced the results of a survey that company officials said found that 72 percent of respondents would be willing to give up their cellphone reception to first responders, and a majority (63 percent) said first responders should get access to communications before the public.

A 2016 survey of 9,735 sworn police officers conducted by the Public Technology Institute (PTI), iCERT and Deltek found top technology priorities in radio communications, mobile data and body-worn cameras.

Technavio analysts forecast the global public-safety Long Term Evolution (LTE) devices market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 18 percent during the forecast period, according to its latest report.

The command-and-control room and public-safety answering point (PSAP) market is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 7.1 percent from $5.4 billion in 2015 to reach $7.6 billion in 2020, according to IHS Markit.

The global professional mobile radio (PMR) market is expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 10 percent until 2020, according to the latest research report from Technavio.

The critical communications market, which includes police radios and other professional communications equipment, will be worth $18 billion by 2019, according to a new report from IHS. The two largest market segments are command-and-control solutions and licensed mobile radio terminals, which together account for more than two-thirds of critical communications revenue.

Huawei partnered with IHS to develop a white paper titled “LTE in Public Safety.” The white paper outlines customer challenges in the public-safety sector and private Long Term Evolution (LTE) network development trends, as well as recommendations for the deployment of LTE-based public-safety networks.

The latest global report and analysis from market analyst firm IHS shows TETRA technology growth predicted in all geographic regions. Eastern Europe, in particular, is projected to see rapid growth, with new terminal shipments in the industrial sector expected to increase by almost 50 percent and in transport by nearly 27 percent.