It is, as we are all too aware, a strange time for everyone, so I am extremely proud of the way TCCA, our members and partners have continued to support the enhancement and development of critical communications. The progress of key projects has continued uninterrupted thanks to a smooth transition to online working.

Bittium received a purchase order from the Finnish Defence Forces for Bittium Tactical Power Pack products that are meant for powering tactical communication devices. The power devices will be used by the Finnish Defence Forces as accessories for the portable Bittium Tough Comnode devices.

The radio interfaces that will be used in full-scale commercial deployment of fifth generation mobile communication networks have achieved global validation with the successful evaluation by ITU of three new technologies that conform with the International Mobile Telecommunications 2020 (IMT-2020) vision and stringent performance requirement.

TCCA and PMeV – Netzwerk Sichere Kommunikation (German Association and Network for Critical Communications) have agreed to cooperate on the development of a guide for connecting control rooms to mission-critical services (MCX) in 4G/5G networks. A number of international control center operators are also participating in this project.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill aimed at improving the cybersecurity of internet of things (IoT) devices. The bill was passed by the House in September and now moves to the president for approval.

Samsung and AT&T announced that the Galaxy XCover Pro, a field-ready and rugged smartphone, is now available at AT&T online nationwide.

During an earnings call, Anterix officials said they have not yet signed private LTE contracts with utility customers but still expect to have two to three signed by the end of the company’s fiscal year, March 31.

Welcome to November 2020. The election is finally behind us, COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in the United States, and the number of wildfires, major storms, and hurricanes continue to make our first responders’ work even more essential. When FirstNet was created in February of 2012, it was a result of the public-safety community having banded together across disciplines. The Public Safety Alliance (PSA) sought and received support from a variety of organizations including governors, mayors and most LMR venders.

Erillisverkot, the Finnish state-run body responsible for national communications networks, for public authorities, emergency services and other critical services added Ericsson Security Manager to its Virve 2.0 5G core network public-safety network. The move is part of a mission-critical public safety partnership with Ericsson.

The FCC granted a waiver request from Piper Networks that will allow the company to certify and operate its ultrawideband (UWB) train positioning system in the 4.243 – 4.743 GHz band in New York City and Harris County, Texas.