Radio communications company ETELM wins award for helping set up COVID-19 key worker testing facility in Northern Italy

French radio communications specialist ETELM has been recognised for its work to help establish a COVID-19 mobile medical facility in Italy. The project – the deployment of a mobile laboratory called B-LiFE, (Biological Light Field Laboratory for Emergencies) – won the ICAA International Critical Communications Awards 2020 in the category of ‘Best use of critical communications in public safety’.

The project team established a mobile medical laboratory and testing facility in Piedmont in June 2020 to provide rapid testing for key workers as the region was battling to fight the worst of the pandemic. ETELM’s role was to provide advanced communications for the B-LiFE facility to enable rapid communication of mission critical information to ensure the fast and efficient processing of test information.

ETELM achieved this by providing its innovative 4GLinked solution, offering a combination of professional TETRA and LTE radio communicatoins technologies, to create a fully autonomous rapidly deployable Terrestrial Telecom Emergency Node with integrated services and cellular coverage. Other technologies such as satellite communications and geo-mapping were all brought into play in conjunction with a number of partners from across Europe.

ETELM managing director Nicolas Hauswald commented: “We were pleased to make a contribution to the fight against COVID-19 in a region that was under tremendous pressure. Our team is experienced in providing tailored solutions for critical radio communications and were able to deploy at a moment’s notice. But we were part of a much bigger team of experts from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLovain) and other service providers. A great team effort with the most important mission; to save lives.”

B-LiFE is delivered by a consortium of experts led by the Center for Applied Molecular Technologies of the UCLouvain. ETELM has developed the terrestrial telecommunication segment. SES Techcom provided satellite communication. EONIX has built the autonomous information infrastructure and nazka mapps brought its satellite imaging and mapping capacities. The mission was supported by ESA and the Luxembourg Government with high-performance capabilities from the GovSat-1 satellite.