Frequentis wins “Best use of TETRA for Public Safety” at the 2016 ICCA

On 26 February 2016 the International Critical Communications Awards (ICCA) 2016 took place at the Honourable Artillery Company in London. Frequentis won the top award in the category “Best use of TETRA for Public Safety” for its best practice voice communication system implemented at the Bavarian Police during the 2015 G7 Summit in June. The International Critical Communications Awards focus on excellence in the critical communications world.

The International Critical Communications Awards, previously named TETRA Awards, are focusing attention on excellence in the public safety sector. Criteria’s for winning in the category “Best use of TETRA for Public Safety” were providing evidence of safeguards being in place for data security, full adoption of TETRA capabilities across a range of platforms, scalability, interoperability and efficient use of bandwidth and reliability. Key performance indicators also included showing how TETRA systems have improved response times, reduced areas of no coverage, and improved staff safety.

“We are very proud of winning this award together with our customer, the Bavarian Police. Frequentis acted as the communication hub and we are pleased to have supported the Bavarian Police during this large-scale event, applying our expertise from other events like the Olympic Games in London 2012”, said Robert Nitsch, Director Public Safety at Frequentis.

To fulfil the needs of the Bavarian Police, Frequentis provided the voice communication solution including TETRA digital radio, to direct up to 18,000 relief units. The solution merged the operation of the analogue radio and digital radio wired connections that were utilised for the first time in the Federal State of Bavaria. Different channels of communication were controlled via a central joint, operator-friendly user interface. The entire emergency services personnel were enabled to use the voice and data services of the German tap-proof BOS digital radio. In total, about 280 operator positions in Rosenheim, Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen were equipped. Even the transnational communication across the Austrian border was supported.

“In the time from 28 May to 7 June over 30,000 different mobiles were registered in the G7 operation area. This was a new European record and outpaces the amount of the Olympic Games in London 2012. The voice communication system of Frequentis handled in peak times more than 70,000 calls per day. In total, during that hot phase 340,000 group calls were performed, which is a clear indication for the powerful digital TETRA technology as well as for the Frequentis solution. We are honoured to receive this award”, proudly states Walter Degenhart, responsible Part-Project Leader at the Upper Bavarian Police Headquarters.

The ICCA 2016 judges applauded Frequentis for ensuring reliability during record TETRA traffic levels and described the project as: “An amazing example of the scalability, flexibility and usability of the TETRA system in high-profile settings.”

At the end of this project, the entire State will use TETRA communication provided through the Frequentis Unified TETRA Gateway as the main communication medium for high quality audio as well as data services.