Global security concerns boost TETRA covert radio market

The anticipated influx of millions of visitors for the London 2012 Olympics has kicked off a parallel competition between the security agencies that keep the UK safe. Scotland Yard’s drug, murder and anti-terror squads are all going to be at the peak of activity during the summer months. They’ll be joined by other government agencies that keep an eye on immigration, customs and excise, and wider national security.

As ever, the effectiveness of these teams is in some way governed by their kit, the most important of which is likely to be the communications equipment, which these days means TETRA radio. All the government and private agencies that need to keep tabs on criminals and suspect individuals are clamouring for the latest radios and accessories from the manufacturers. The leaders in this field are currently Sepura, Thales and Motorola, but new contender Hytera is one of many challengers aiming to launch new devices in this race.

Naturally, TETRA covert radios require a robust network to operate and the UK’s Airwave network has been in operation for over a decade now. The market is expanding as the possibilities of TETRA are widened, according to Helen Bleasdale of Airwave.

‘The Airwave network has improved coverage, which was patchy in rural and urban areas. Once Suffolk police only had radio coverage in 17% of the county, but now TETRA radio works in 99% of Britain’s landmass,’ says Bleasdale.

Covert radios
Thomas Lynch, mobile radio market analyst at IMS Research, says: ‘It is generally in quite mature TETRA networks, like the UK, where you see covert radios being employed. It tends to start with first line users, such as the police, adopting it first, then fire and ambulance. After that you get additional government-related users, who have seen that it is a tried and tested medium and are now happy to adopt it for their own use. It is quite an advanced solution for a truly sophisticated covert system, but people are willing to pay a lot of money for that.’

The covert operations market is particularly competitive. According to Jim Luo, UK marketing manager for Hytera, technology available in the Chinese market could be available in the UK next year.

TETRA radios for the covert market will have to be slim, durable and easy to use, says Luo. But the big quality on which manufacturers will compete is the amount of discretion that can be built into these devices. Not only should they not give themselves away, they should not be subject to leaking information.

So TETRA radio users in covert operations must have equipment that is both easy to hide and easy to use. Anyone carrying a radio is going to arouse suspicion, especially among paranoid drug dealers, smugglers and terrorists who are on the lookout for police observers.


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Source: www.wireless-mag.com