Airbus takes the Next Step Towards a new Generation of Mission-Critical Communications
At the Milipol trade fair, Airbus demonstrated the implementation of a broadband solution for mission-critical services within a leading telecom operator’s 4G network
For the first time, Airbus integrates its mission-critical mobile multimedia communication solution “Tactilon Agnet” into a standard 4G network from a large telecom company in France. This solution, on display at the Milipol trade fair near Paris, will be combined with the complementary tactical cell “Tactilon Cell”, a small and transportable system for running small Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. Tactilon Cell can be used during anti-terror campaigns, large events or rescue missions.
The objective of Airbus and its partner is to demonstrate operational efficiency and the usability of these new secure services in a resilient commercial 4G network architecture. This solution meets extremely high availability requirements for mission-critical users. Furthermore, Professional Mobile Radio expertise combined with 4G commercial technology helps to offer a relevant solution for public safety in the near future.
“We are convinced that dedicated networks and operator networks are complementary for the deployment of professional 4G networks,” says Eric Davalo, Head of Strategy, Solutions Portfolio and Engineering of Secure Land Communications at Airbus. “We are very happy to win trust from our users through common demonstrations with a partner.”
The demonstration at Milipol is the next step to a worldwide professional standard for multimedia communication via LTE. It follows on from the first ever Mission Critical Push-to- Talk (MCPTT) plug tests performed by Airbus at the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) in June 2017. It was decisive to further push forward a global standard for MCPTT over LTE.
The collaboration with large telecom operators contributes to the emergence of an ecosystem for rugged terminals supporting commercial bands, such as the 700 MHz PPDR and 2.6 GHz bands dedicated to public security and mission-critical infrastructure operators in France.
Airbus has designed Tactilon Agnet for group communications allowing police officers and firefighters to exchange pictures, videos, texts and geolocation data securely over LTE.
Tactilon Agnet is also fully interoperable with Tetra and Tetrapol technology. Smartphone users can thus communicate securely and flexibly with Tetra or Tetrapol terminal users.
