Thomas Lynch - IMS Research: Reflections on the Final Tetra World Congress. Long Live TETRA!

This year the IMS Research (acquired by IHS Inc, NYSE:IHS) mobile radio division exhibited and presented at the TETRA World Congress (TWC) in Dubai. Pitched as the final TETRA World Congress in its current guise it was interesting to see the real emphasis on the evolution of both the TWC and TETRA as a technology. The next show, now called Critical Communications World (Incorporating the TWC) should prove even more interesting as the PMR eco-systems come together in a format not really seen before. That said, Dubai provided a fantastic back drop for the exhibition this year and even in its current state the TETRA World Congress proved a more successful show than ever.

IMS Research reported prior to the show that the Middle East & Africa were the fastest growing regions for TETRA in 2011, so the organisers and TETRA Association must have been taking notice of our predictions prior to the show! This made for an interesting show as we certainly forecast growth into the future for this region and see new markets in utilities, transport and mining opening up and expanding over the next period.

Not only was it a great show for the level of end user visitors and the conference agenda, but there was also some significant vendor activity that created some talking points and wandering gazes throughout the show. The Sepura acquisition of 3T was certainly one of the highlights, with Sepura now proactively entering the infrastructure and systems integration market.

Partnerships were announced  between Thales and Nokia Siemens Networks; Damm and Siemens CMT and as well as a partnership extension between Cassidian and Koreas APSI. Each of these partnerships revolves around the provision of data, reflecting the obvious temperament of the market to establish a presence and pathway in and to broadband data.

With regards IMS Research participation, we were concentrating on what the market is doing today as well as where we envisage the future for the market. On the first day of the show, Thomas Lynch presented and moderated on the Motorola round table (below).
 



Figure 1: Thomas Lynch presenting market data at the Motorola Round Table Event

During Thomas’s presentation, it was made clear that TETRA has an evolutionary path to follow but that the market remained buoyant and predictions were for unit shipments to increase. It was also stated that TETRA technology is now been seen in more regions than ever and that unit shipments and revenues will continue to increase (Figure 2).


Figure 2 - World TETRA Market to 2015

Thomas concluded by introducing a recent study of 260 License holders conducted by IMS Research focussing on Broadband Data. The response presented was that there is indeed a requirement for enhanced data. In fact, it was found that a large proportion of agencies (over 80%) were currently using commercial cellular networks for their data requirements due to the lack of private high speed broadband solutions, LTE or otherwise (Figure 3).



Figure 3 - LMR/PMR agencies utilising commercial cellular for the broadband needs

Further it remains suggested that once the industry and macro environment has overcome the issues of spectrum, harmonisation and economic woes there is real potential for significant growth for the PMR industry in broadband solutions.

Alex Green presented and chaired a panel session during the main session on the Wednesday. During this Alex also covered the requirement for broadband data but with more focus on what needed to be done in order to ensure the successful delivery of a cost effective and scalable solution.



Figure 4 - Alex Green presents and manages round table during main session

Alex’s presentation bought up some interesting points and certainly tested the distinguished panel where again the panel agreed the time for PMR broadband data solutions is now, although the reality for private broadband data solutions certainly for LTE is some years away yet.

Source: IMR Research Analyst Blog