Sepura planning US entry following FCC decision

U.K. digital radio company Sepura PLC plans to begin selling its products in the U.S. by the end of the year, following a decision by the Federal Communications Commission to waive rules preventing the use of an international radio standard.

Sepura's radios are based on Terrestrial Trunked Radio, or TETRA, a radio specification used in over 100 countries but not approved for use in the U.S. TETRA radios are used predominantly by police and other emergency services and are one of a number of competing digital standards gradually replacing older analogue radios.

Following years of lobbying by industry groups and companies including Sepura, the FCC Wednesday cleared the way for the sale of TETRA in the U.S. by waiving part of the rules that prevent its use.

Sepura is already taking steps to begin selling into the North American market--which accounts for about a third of the global total--and plans to begin shipping radios to customers in the U.S. by the end of the year, both directly and through distributors.

"We have been completely shut out of the U.S., and it's a big market we want to address," Chief Executive Gordon Watling told Dow Jones Newswires.

The leading digital standard currently in use in the U.S. is dominated by Motorola Solutions Inc., giving it a 75% share of the North American market for portable radio systems, Watling said.

The FCC recognized that adoption of TETRA would make for a more competitive market, Watling said. Motorola's global market share is around 40%, with Sepura in second place on around 35%, he added.

Watling is confident about taking on Motorola in North America, highlighting the example of Germany, where the firm went from having no sales to being market leader within roughly three years.

"I certainly think it's going to be tough, but it's no different to what we've achieved in other markets," he said.

Source: www.totaltele.com