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Canary IslandsTeltronic reaches the summit

Teide VolcanoCanary Islands - Spain

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Editor’s Message:

Welcome to the most recent edition of Teltronic Times – Beyond TETRA. As 2010 progresses, in spite of the difficult economic climate within the European Union, we are witnessing signs of growth in the wider global economy, which will hopefully feed into increased orders for digital mobile radio communications equipment from both government and private users. Fortunately, it has been another year of strong results for TELTRONIC as we continue to reach new markets and market segments with continually updated, thoroughly modern solutions. In this latest edition, the reader will find up-to-date information on a wide range of geographical and vertical markets. We have fresh articles covering Spain, North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, as well as a special feature on the Utilities sector, where data is becoming increasingly important in everyday operations. We focus on another first for TELTRONIC providing TETRA services via satellite for emergency relief efforts following the tragedy caused by the powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Haiti, and also look at how TETRA is being integrated with complementary technologies to provide the services of the future today. As the world searches for new, peaceful, energy-efficient paths to prosperity, TELTRONIC continues investing in a better future based on secure, powerful, user-friendly mobile communications.

Peter Clemons director of communications

& chief editor, Teltronic

Contents

2 Editor’s MessagePeter Clemons welcomes readers to another edition of Teltronic Times, at a time of mixed messages in the global economy. However, the good news is that TELTRONIC continues to post strong results and reach new markets and market segments

3 TELTRONIC continues to grow and invest heavily in future solutionsTeltronic’s Chief Executive Officer, Juan Ferro, reflects on a profitable year for TELTRONIC as the company posts strong results for 2009 and continues investing in the future of global professional communications

4 PowerTrunk stands out in North AmericaTeltronic’s Chief Marketing & Sales Officer and Executive Vice-President & COO of PowerTrunk, Jose Manuel Martin updates Teltronic Times’ readers on the significant progress made by PowerTrunk in the North American over the past 12 months and looks forward to even better news in the coming months

6 TELTRONIC takes control of the Spanish TETRA marketSpain – TELTRONIC’s home market - has one of the highest numbers of TETRA networks anywhere in the world. In recent months, TELTRONIC has continued growing its market share with a number of significant contract awards, including the Canary Islands

7 Asia-Pacific – TELTRONIC’s fastest growing regionHaving chosen Singapore as its venue, the TETRA World Congress returns to Asia in 2010 following the highly successful 2008 event held in Hong Kong. During this 2-year hiatus, TELTRONIC has turned the Asia-Pacific region into one of its more vibrant markets

8 TETRA helps out in HaitiWhen a powerful earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, with such tragic consequences, TELTRONIC allowed the Venezuelan relief effort to take advantage of their home TETRA network via a satellite link from the central node in Caracas to a remote base station and control centre in Port-au-Prince

10 TETRA now the technology of choice in Latin AmericaMexico Metro and Neuquen Regional Government are two excellent examples of a clear trend in recent years in Latin American professional communications towards the adoption of TETRA solutions from the undisputed market leader in the region, TELTRONIC

12 The future of mission-critical communicationsTETRA must integrate with a wide range of fixed, mobile and IT networks to provide total communications for mission-critical users. As well as developing a complete, Ethernet/IP-based TETRA solution, TELTRONIC also provides state-of-the-art Control Centre (CeCoCo) technology and a multi-bearer vehicle console (MVC 6000) for the seamless integration of complementary technologies

14 Utility companies energised by TETRAThe global energy sector is on the verge of major operational and technological changes caused by greater competition; rising energy costs; fluctuating fuel prices; climate change, renewable sources of energy and the imminent switch to smart-metering. TETRA has a role to play in this process of change.

15 Teltronic Days @ 2010TELTRONIC is holding a series of events around the world during 2010 to highlight its leadership and innovation in professional mobile communications technology and services. We welcome you to join us at your local event to find out the very latest about TELTRONIC, TETRA and related/emerging technologies and how they can enhance your organisation’s efficiency and competitiveness.

TELTRONIC continues to grow and invest heavily in future solutions

Teltronic’s chief executive officer, Juan Ferro, reflects on a profitable year for TelTronic as the company posts strong results for 2009 and continues investing in the future of global professional communications.

TELTRONIC posted strong operational and financial results during 2009, guaranteeing that the company remained highly profitable throughout the global financial and economic crisis. TELTRONIC has also maintained its high levels of investment in R&D – which are critical to its continued success in global markets – without the need to reduce staff levels. In fact, in some areas, TELTRONIC is actually looking to hire more staff during 2010 as it strengthens its position in the global PMR market.

Globally, TELTRONIC’s sales are becoming increasingly more geographically diverse. TELTRONIC remains the absolute leader in the Latin American TETRA market and business is growing very fast in the highly lucrative Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. Perhaps more importantly, TELTRONIC is now delivering large-scale, multi-node, regional TETRA networks of well over 150 sites, allowing it to compete successfully with large manufacturers for major contracts.

TELTRONIC is the only global PMR player to keep total in-house control over the development and manufacture of a complete range of products and services. This allows us to react much more quickly to individual customers’ needs as well as differentiating our products to adapt to changing and challenging market conditions and stay one step ahead of our competitors. TELTRONIC produces its own Ethernet/IP-based infrastructure, high-power fixed units, mobiles and hand-portables, radio modems, integrated control centres and optimised data applications. We have also been growing our market share in Transport for a number of years with customised, specialised solutions for mass-transit systems around the world.

Having recently received type approval for our equipment from FCC and Industry Canada, TELTRONIC is committed to opening up the North American market to TETRA through our subsidiary, PowerTrunk. We have also developed a P25 line of products – using the same hardware platform as our proven TETRA solution - to offer the public safety community in USA, Canada and potentially other markets. My colleague, Jose Manuel Martin, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer at TELTRONIC and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, PowerTrunk, explains the current situation in the North American market in a separate article.

TELTRONIC continues to invest heavily in the next generation of professional communications which will see TETRA fully integrated with existing and emerging wideband and broadband technologies. We are also developing solutions for new market segments such as utilities and operators as well as supporting the TETRA Association’s global promotional efforts and regional events. TELTRONIC is also holding a number of its own Teltronic Days events during 2010. You can find out more information about these events on p.15 and at our web-site; www.teltronic.es.

TELTRONIC has emerged from 2009 - and the prolonged global financial crisis - in a much stronger financial and technological position than ever before. This will allow us to take advantage of the new challenges and opportunities facing the global PMR market during this new decade, across all continents and all market sectors. Everyone at TELTRONIC looks forward to sharing these new opportunities with our existing and future customers as we move beyond the TETRA technology towards the next generation of integrated technologies, with TETRA still very much at the core.

Juan Ferrochief executive officerTeltronic

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TETRA-based range in North America based on the existing type acceptance from FCC and Industry Canada.

PowerTrunk’s willingness to make advanced applications available to American users is very strong, especially in the case of Utilities and Transport companies. Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), including GIS facilities and dispatching systems, is now common for our customers in the field of buses and trams. The Metro and railway sectors have also become strategic segments for TETRA. Telemetry and remote command and control along with advanced voice dispatching systems are now becoming standard as TELTRONIC is supplying thes services to an increasing number of engineering companies and train makers such as ALSTOM, CAF, SIEMENS, T-SYSTEMS, EFACEC, IKUSI or ETRA, among others, and also due to the successful integration of SCADA systems into TETRA networks for a number of Utilities which will soon be disclosed. Regarding railways, PowerTrunk and its mother company TELTRONIC are actively supporting the activities of the TETRA Rail Forum which intends to promote the use of TETRA as a replacement to GSM-R, an older and less efficient technology which has taken advantage of its being standardised as mandatory through European directives. However, the short life cycle of telecommunication technologies and the slow deployment of GSM-R in Europe have made TETRA a clear alternative due to greater economies and superior performance.

PowerTrunk believes fully in P25 solutions for Public Safety and Security (PSS) users, which is why we have developed our multi-technology platform. Phase 1 and Phase 2 allow Simulcast to be addressed based on solid and flexible modulation schemes, while offering new data communication capabilities. These features are particularly important in territories where congestion is an issue due to high spectrum usage. PowerTrunk is fully committed to offering P25 infrastructures which are hardware-ready to migrate to Phase 2, partnering with outstanding P25 subscriber equipment vendors.

I look forward to getting in touch with you again next year to communicate even more significant steps forward and PowerTrunk success stories in North America.

Jose Manuel Martinchief Marketing & Sales officer, Teltronicexecutive Vice President & coo, PowerTrunk

Last year I told you about the start-up of TELTRONIC’s US branch PowerTrunk. One year on, I am proud to announce that it has already become a well known brand with a clear message. PowerTrunk’s multi-technology platform capable of migrating to 6.25 kHz-equivalent systems along with the remarkable steps taken in the field of FCC and Industry Canada type acceptance for TETRA are key landmarks which I am sure will influence the American land mobile radio market over the coming years.

As TELTRONIC has continued to notch up successes as outstanding as the Canary Islands TETRA network, PowerTrunk has emerged as the breath of fresh air that many were waiting for in North America. Our customers in the US and Canada now have access to well engineered solutions based on a solid range of standards. FDMA P25 Phase 1, soon to be succeeded by the upcoming 2-slot TDMA P25 Phase 2 (PowerTrunk25), along with our American version of TETRA (PowerTrunk-T), complementary WiMAX equipment and comprehensive dispatching platform CeCoCo, are powerful tools for both our engineering partners and end users.

Regarding the availability of TETRA equipment in North America, PowerTrunk has managed to achieve more than any other company so far. Since the existing regulations in the US and Canada involve making every radio equipment compliant with the applicable emission masks and occupied bandwidth limits, and such masks and limits are slightly narrower than required, PowerTrunk has designed a minor modification by way of reducing the modulation roll-off factor from 0.35 (standard value) to 0.2, while all other parameters and protocols are kept unchanged. Today PowerTrunk holds both FCC and Industry Canada type acceptance for PowerTrunk-T in 450-470 MHz and 800 MHz as well as for PowerTrunk HTT-500 hand-portable in 409-470 MHz. Recent trials carried out in Canada with the participation of Sepura have shown that the aforementioned

modification involves no loss of performance while allowing us to comply with Industry Canada and FCC regulations. Since type acceptance is the only legal requirement to sell in North America, the door is now open to TETRA.

Standardization is of course an issue, but sometimes one has to move forward anyway when there is no other way or when someone is particularly interested in blocking progress to protect a monopoly interest. PowerTrunk supports the TETRA Association in its request for a waiver which would allow TETRA to be accepted by the FCC without modifications. Since TETRA is deployed today in more than one hundred countries and no interference issues have been reported so far, it is obvious that the nearly unanimous opposition from American industry associations to the TETRA Association’s request may have been carefully orchestrated so that TETRA remains unavailable in North America. Therefore, if American associations are concerned about the potential interference caused by TETRA, it seems very reasonable to implement a slight modification, as PowerTrunk has done, so we expect to receive their support at some point in the future in order for an American version of TETRA to be approved in the near future.

Intellectual property rights also enter the equation as some holders have announced that they may not grant licences because “TETRA cannot obtain type acceptance” in North America. In June 2009 at the UTC show in Las Vegas, a Motorola spokesman said that they would grant a licence when type acceptance was obtained. However, some months later, when PowerTrunk received the certificates from FCC, another spokesman backtracked and declared to the prestigious Radio Resource Magazine that “type acceptance is not the only consideration for TETRA in North America” (forgetting to specify what other considerations he meant). In view of this situation, PowerTrunk has asked the IPR holders themselves in writing to declare those patents which might have been registered in the US and Canada which they believe may be relevant to the installation of TETRA technology (whether or not they have been declared to ETSI as essential). Since no response has so far been received, PowerTrunk has announced that it shall commercialise its

PowerTrunk Stands Out in North America

“PowerTrunk holds both FCC and Industry Canada type

acceptance for TETra”

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As the years go by, TELTRONIC has continued to strengthen its TETRA business by launching new products and services for a wider range of customers. TELTRONIC now has one of the most diverse customer bases of any TETRA manufacturer, supplying to a wide variety of geographical and vertical markets. However, in spite of its global reach, the company is still winning major contracts in its home market, Spain.

TELTRONIC had a number of early successes in the Spanish transport sector, delivering high-quality voice and data solutions for buses, Metros and trams. The company developed special on-board units for a number of Metro systems including several hundred units for Madrid Metro. TELTRONIC equipment is also visible on Metro and light rail networks in Valencia, Alicante, Mallorca, Tenerife and Parla. But probably TELTRONIC’s greatest TETRA challenge in the transport sector is taking place far below the ground in Barcelona.

Having supplied one of its earliest TETRA solutions for Barcelona Buses, which is now using advanced AVL/GPS optimization techniques to handle large amounts of data traffic over its network, TELTRONIC has now moved on to supply a total TETRA radio network for the Barcelona Metro Line 9 currently under construction, which will be one of Europe’s longest and deepest lines upon completion.

TELTRONIC’s TETRA offering is constantly evolving as customers trust the total solutions provider with larger scale networks of greater complexity and functionality. Apart from transport applications, TELTRONIC is now delivering large, multi-node, wide-area, regional, fully integrated systems

Public safety is one of the key TETRA markets. TELTRONIC is leading the way in this market segment in Spain. Building on the successful deployment of

a 140-site network for Itelazpi in the Basque Country during 2009, TELTRONIC has been chosen by both the Canary Islands and City of Ceuta Governments to build fully redundant TETRA networks for regional networks. Long-standing TELTRONIC customer, Zaragoza City Council has also installed next-generation, multi-technology vehicle consoles for the Local Police, which will increase efficiency and provide access to services that were previously out of reach of the average public safety user.

In recent months, TELTRONIC, together with partners TECNICAS COMPETITIVAS and SAMPOL, has supplied a single, unified, digital mobile radio (TETRA) communications network for the Canary Islands Government Public Safety and Emergency Services across the archipielago’s seven main islands. Multiple agencies, including CECOES 1-1-2, Ambulance, Health Centres, Local Police, Environmental Agencies, Fire Brigade, Civil Protection etc. will have permanent, guaranteed access to a virtual, private voice and data radio communications network for coordinating daily and emergency operations.

During 2009, TELTRONIC supplied a fully redundant, 6-site TETRA solution for the Autonomous City of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African mainland, which will guarantee the radio coverage and traffic needs of its Emergency and Security Public Services.

It is also important to mention that TELTRONIC is in the process of bringing to market a multi-technology, narrowband voice and data (TETRA) and broadband data (UMTS, Mobile WiMAX) solution via a single interface: a console installed in emergency vehicles, already being used by Zaragoza Police. More about this solution can be found in the article explaining how TETRA can be integrated with other technologies later in Teltronic Times.

Attendees at this year’s TETRA World Congress being held in Singapore will have the opportunity to listen to case studies from all three of these Spanish networks: Canary lslands, City of Ceuta and Zaragoza Police.

TELTRONIC is rightly proud of its status as a global TETRA player. However, it is always important for all manufacturers to create a vibrant home market for developing new services and applications and providing employment and economic prosperity for the local community. It is also a clear advantage for potential Spanish customers to know that there is a major TETRA player on their doorstep who can provide the perfect, advanced solution to their communications needs.

TELTRONIC takes control of the Spanish TETRA marketin the previous edition of Teltronic Times, we mentioned that Spain – TelTronic’s home market - has one of the highest numbers of TeTrA networks anywhere in the world. in recent months, TelTronic has continued growing its market share with a number of significant contract awards, including the canary islands

The TETRA World Congress being held in Singapore during May provides the perfect backdrop to one of the most important success stories in the TETRA industry in recent times. Having started out back in the 1990s as an essentially European standard, TETRA enters a new decade in better shape and with a more promising future than ever, as a truly global standard. As Asia develops into the world’s economic power-house and home of numerous technological innovations, it is clear that the TETRA trade is now booming across the region after years of steady growth. Having set up its Asia-Pacific office in Singapore itself back in 2007, TELTRONIC’s TETRA business across this vast continent is accelerating at an astonishing pace, making it the company’s fastest growing market, now rivalling and threatening to outstrip the traditional, well-seated revenues still being achieved in Europe and Latin America.

Asia is home to around 4 billion people, 60% of the Earth’s total human population. Japan’s rise as an economic power after the Second World War is now being matched by the world’s two most populated nations – China and India – which is also leading to increased economic and financial activity in a wide range of Asian states. In an increasingly interconnected world, communications and security rise towards the top of major issues discussed by Government officials, business leaders and the population at large. As the world’s leading secure communications technology, TETRA has been forcing its way onto the agenda of the majority of the region’s public safety and communications authorities.

Back in the 2008 edition of Teltronic Times, we showcased early TELTRONIC successes from Malaysia, South Korea and Australia in industry segments such as ports and mining. Since then, TELTRONIC has sold TETRA equipment in over a dozen Asian markets

including China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and others, which we are unable to specify for reasons of security and confidentiality.

Some recent TELTRONIC success stories in the Asia-Pacific region are:

• The new 135,000-spectator, Ocean and Marina-based Formula 1 circuit being completed in Yeongam county, South Jeolla province, South Korea, 400 kilometres south of Seoul in time for the inaugural Grand Prix in October 2010 has installed a TELTRONIC NEBULA TETRA solution.

• Incheon Police in Greater Seoul, South Korea has updated and extended the TELTRONIC TETRA network in order to handle the G20 summit which will be held in the city, which is the second largest in South Korea, hosting the third largest airport in Asia in terms of traffic.

• TELTRONIC has supplied specialised on-board TETRA equipment for the Taipei Metro, Taiwan, which is now working aboard Japanese-built locomotives.

TELTRONIC is also hosting several, special Teltronic Day events across the region during 2010. Events have already been held in Queensland, Australia and Hanoi, Vietnam. Potential customers and industry experts interested in finding out more about TELTRONIC’s products, services and future plans for professional mobile communications can visit the web-site, www.teltronic.es, to find upcoming events in their particular part of the world.

TELTRONIC will also have its largest presence ever at this year’s TETRA World Congress being held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Visitors will be able to find out more about the very latest developments within TETRA by visiting the increasingly spectacular exhibitor stands and attending the informative conference streams. TELTRONIC looks forward to continuing its tradition of providing the very best hospitality on stand A301, as well as offering the highest quality products and services and best value for money within the TETRA industry to our Asian customers.

Asia-Pacific – TELTRONIC’s fastest growing regionHaving chosen Singapore as its venue, the TeTrA World congress returns to Asia in 2010 following the highly successful 2008 event held in Hong Kong. during this 2-year hiatus, TelTronic has turned the Asia-Pacific region into one of its more vibrant markets

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Already, on several occasions so far during 2010, Nature’s immense power and extraordinary unpredictability have affected the lives and hopes of millions of people around the globe. As public safety organizations gear up to cope with ever increasing incidents of crime, accidents and terrorist activity, it is a sobering thought that the greatest threat of all still comes from the hidden forces within the very Earth we all inhabit and depend upon for the sustenance of life.

The country of Haiti, suffering from decades of chronic unemployment and severe deforestation, perched on the western side of the historical, Caribbean island of Hispaniola, is the Americas’ poorest nation. Since a violent revolt took place in 2004, the United Nations Stabilization Mission, composed almost entirely from Latin American armed forces, has been a constant presence, controlling unrest and attempting to generate the conditions for the re-building of Haitian institutions and a return to normality, hopefully leading to badly needed economic growth.

However, on the afternoon of January 12, 2010, all these hopes were dashed by a massive earthquake that struck Haiti, changing the landscape forever. Measuring just over 7 on the Richter Scale and with its epicenter barely 20 kilometres from the centre of the country’s crowded capital, Port-au-Prince, the earthquake affected 3 million people (30% of the total population), leaving 1 million homeless and perhaps as many as 200,000 people dead, including many foreign officials and aid workers.

Heightening the panic and despair, as many as 52 aftershocks were felt in the fortnight following the initial tremor.

The aid effort from the international community began almost immediately as the full extent of the horror became apparent. The Venezuelan government was one of the first to respond. On the morning following the disaster, it sent its first aid team consisting of doctors, engineers, search and rescue and Civil Protection personnel.

The ability to communicate during a crisis is vital. Even before the earthquake struck, Haiti had a very poorly developed fixed telephony and emergency mobile radio communications infrastructure. It soon became clear on the ground in Haiti, that virtually all existing forms of communications had been destroyed, requiring alternative plans to be put into place as soon as possible. The Venezuelan Government already had its own TETRA (NEBULA) network solution provided by TELTRONIC for emergency situations within Venezuelan territory. Would it be possible in any way to take advantage of this TETRA network on an overseas mission? Could a TETRA over satellite solution be implemented using VSAT technology?

VSAT networks are relatively low-cost, private data satellite communications networks requiring fairly small dish antennas approximately 1.3 metres in diameter. Direct links can be set up from one VSAT to another with a time delay of 250 ms., or more commonly through an Earth hub with delays of 500 ms. In the case of public safety and mission-critical communications, a VSAT connection can provide centralized management of communications in those places where no terrestrial links exist. For example, border posts; catastrophe scenarios like Haiti; military actions or forest brigades, mountain rescue etc. in difficult terrain with limited coverage.

To develop a TETRA over VSAT solution, it is critical to take into account the significant delays introduced by the VSAT link between the TETRA system’s central node and the remote base stations. TETRA call set-up times are normally less than 250 ms., but this becomes p h y s i c a l l y impossible in the case of satellite links due to the distances involved. The right system design is the key to being able to develop a solution with the minimum delay possible, keeping this down to around 1 second so that it is still possible to carry out fluid conversations. Fortunately in this case, TELTRONIC’s NEBULA has a number of key design features that makes it particularly suited to TETRA over satellite deployment – the main ones are explained here:

• The base stations must be able to implement the full layer 2 of the TETRA standard. NEBULA allows this, including powerful processors in the carriers to allow a fast response to signalling.

• The connection between the system controller and base stations must also be asynchronous. Fortunately, NEBULA permits asynchronous links as it is developed with a distributed packet switching matrix to connect up its elements.

• Bandwidth optimization is required to transport voice around data networks. NEBULA uses special compression protocols over Ethernet/IP.

• It is also possible to establish VSAT links in different points of the NEBULA topology in order to connect up both remote base stations and remote control centres.

Based on the above criteria, taking advantage of NEBULA’s superior network architecture, TELTRONIC developed a TETRA over VSAT solution for the Venezuelan Government that allowed

the Venezuelan Haiti earthquake response team to use its own TETRA radios during aid operations in Port-au-Prince. A transportable base station (see photo) was sent to the camp in Haiti and connected via satellite to the central node (SCN) in Venezuela. Following successful trials, fluid c o m m u n i c a t i o n s have been taking place over the link since early February, with maximum delays in call set-up

times of just over a second - quite remarkable under the circumstances.

A TETRA over satellite solution has lots of possible applications as we have mentioned above. As authorities build out a new, wide-area TETRA network, a TETRA VSAT solution could be available temporarily to be deployed in remote areas beyond the edge of existing coverage; the solution could also provide extra capacity in an area with existing TETRA coverage in times of emergency. VSAT could also provide a redundant link if the main link is lost. As Haiti slowly recovers from the events of January, the key role of emergency communications has been highlighted once again, and TETRA is proud to be part of the solution.

TETRA helps out in HaitiWhen a powerful earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, with such tragic consequences, the international community responded quickly. TelTronic allowed the Venezuelan relief effort to take advantage of their home TeTrA network via a satellite link from the central node located in caracas to a remote base station and control centre set up in Port-au-Prince.

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TETRA now the technology of choice in Latin AmericaMexico Metro and neuquen regional Government are two excellent examples of a clear trend in recent years in latin American professional communications towards the adoption of TeTrA solutions from the undisputed market leader in the region, TelTronic

TELTRONIC has had a presence in Latin America since the 1990s when it opened its first office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. More than a decade later, TELTRONIC has become the clear market leader in TETRA technology across the region, with as many as 30 systems deployed from Mexico down to Argentina, via Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Chile… for public safety, transport, utilities, industry, oil & gas, PAMR…

While others doubted the success of TETRA in the Latin American market, TELTRONIC quietly built up support for the standard across the continent, creating a vibrant user community and developing special features above and beyond the TETRA technology to enhance its functionality, resilience and coverage for the benefit of local customers.In this article, we focus on two very different users from opposite ends of the continent and radically different operational environments: Mexico Metro and Neuquen Regional Government, Argentina; who are both using TELTRONIC’s TETRA offering as an integral, critical part of their communications systems to protect millions of citizens and cater for millions of customers.

Mexico City is one of the world’s most populated cities with latest estimates showing as many as 20 million inhabitants, who all need to move around freely in order to carry out their daily activities. On of the city’s principal modes of transport, Mexico Metro, has now been operating continuously for over 40 years, with some 360 trains running over 200 kilometres of track serving 175 stations across

11 lines. It is the largest mass-transit system in the whole of Latin America, ranked fourth on the whole planet in numbers of passengers after Moscow, Tokyo and New York with as many as 7 million trips undertaken daily throughout the network.

Mexico Metro Line B was inaugurated in two stages in 1999 and 2000, and now carries over 400,000 passengers each working day along elevated, ground-level and underground track through 21 stations. The original communications system was already suffering from obsolescence when TELTRONIC was asked to upgrade the network with a modern TETRA solution.

Line B now boasts the most up-to-date communications solution available on the market with the installation of new, specialized on-board equipment in train cabins, a radio management system combined with a modern, integrated Control & Communications Centre, hand-held radios for operations and maintenance and integration with underground radiant cables. Increased driver and passenger security has been guaranteed with the implementation of an emergency call facility.

TELTRONIC’s NEBULA, CeCoCo and terminal solutions are at the heart of Line B’s integrated communications, improving security and efficiency throughout the transport network and satisfying the Metro’s requirements for many years to come.

Neuquen Province is very, very different to Mexico City. Located in western Argentina, under the shadow of the Andes and at the northern tip of Patagonia, the whole province is home to barely half a million people. It is amazing to think that the same underlying radio communications technology – TELTRONIC NEBULA (TETRA) – could play the same important role here as it does in such a densely populated metropolis.

The forward-looking Neuquen Regional Government created a vision of a professional public safety agency using state-of-the-art technology based on open standards integrated into a solution including the full range of voice, data, video and multimedia services. This new system, denominated SISPAE (Public Safety and Emergency Answering Integrated System in English) - which has now been fully deployed across the province - has an Ethernet/IP-based TETRA system supplied by TELTRONIC together with its partner, Daxa Argentina, as its core running over an IP integrated backbone.

A number of the 33 radio-sites spread out across the province are deployed at altitude in freezing conditions up in the Andes mountains, requiring high levels of resilience and remote maintenance to keep critical communications working through the harshest winters. A modern Call Taking & Dispatching Emergency Centre attends the public using the latest CeCoCo technology described elsewhere in Teltronic Times. The fully integrated solution also includes fast, mobile deployment

units equipped with TETRA technology, video surveillance and the latest AFIS (finger-printing) solutions connected via TETRA to data bases for real-time identification.

The results from SISPAE have been dramatic, with an overall reduction in crime across Neuquen, a larger proportion of crimes solved, improved response times and increased satisfaction in the police force by the general population, who also now feel more secure as a result of the project. Here we see the real, tangible benefits of TETRA improving the quality of life of real people.

The above two customers – Mexico Metro and Neuquen Regional Government - are examples of a larger phenomenon which has spread across the Latin American continent. Whether it be Civil Protection and public safety in Venezuela; transport in Colombia; public safety, transport, utilities, industry and PAMR in Brazil; oil & gas in Argentina; transport in Chile; TELTRONIC’s customers trust TETRA and use it in the harshest environments to provide security, privacy and connectivity to its users serving the population at large. The road has sometimes been long and hard, but we are very proud to be able to say that TETRA is now the mission-critical communications technology of choice in Latin America.

nahum leal, Transport director, Mexico city collective Transport System (STc Metro) and diego dominguez, director – Solutions & Projects, daxa Argentina will both be presenting case studies highlighting the successful implementation of TelTronic TeTrA solutions in Mexico Metro and neuquen regional Government at this year’s TeTrA World congress being held in Singapore from May 25-27.

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TeTrA must integrate with a wide range of fixed, mobile and iT networks to provide total communications for mission-critical users. As well as developing a complete, ethernet/iP-based TeTrA solution, TelTronic also provides state-of-the-art control centre (cecoco) technology and a multi-bearer vehicle console (MVc 6000) for the seamless integration of complementary technologies

Control Centres (CeCoCo suite):

As we explained in last year’s Teltronic Times, TELTRONIC has developed a fully integrated Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) solution, CeCoCo, which is much more than simply CAD. Based on standard Ethernet/IP switching and VoIP, a range of CeCoCo solutions, adapted to the specific needs of different user groups, allows TETRA to be fully integrated with all other IT, telephony and data solutions. Dispatch operators have access via a single interface to the full range of communications; a Geographical Information System (GIS) allows incidents to be managed based on real-time location information of all available resources and operators can also input real-time data related to each incident as it happens so that accurate and timely reports and statistics can be produced automatically.

TELTRONIC now has implemented dozens of CeCoCo solutions around the world. One of the largest of these is in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where 161 operator positions control a network consisting of 2,500 TETRA terminals and 6,000 analogue terminals shared by a wide range of emergency services. Zaragoza Local Police and Fire Brigade also have a similar CeCoCo solution incorporating CCTV and fixed radars.

Multi-bearer Vehicle Console (MVC 6000):

Narrowband solutions such as TETRA in its current form cannot provide the full range of services required by professional users during the 21st century, as mobile broadband networks are deployed to cater for a growing list of data-hungry applications such as real-time video, file downloads and multimedia. As we await the development over the coming decade of a proper broadband PMR solution, our vision for the immediate future must consider the union of TETRA with broadband technologies that are currently being developed and deployed.

With this in mind, TELTRONIC has developed a multi-bearer vehicle console (MVC 6000) that integrates narrowband (i.e. TETRA) with wideband and broadband technologies (3G, WiMAX etc.) in a single user device.

If the vehicle is not within broadband coverage, the console is able to access additional communications networks such as 3G or WiFi to transmit and receive data. Available services are displayed on the screen using a refresh mechanism via TETRA SDS (short data service). The touch-screen console houses advanced applications including web access, automatic updating of local data-bases, e-mail, sat-nav, video and Control Centre integration.

From early 2010, the MVC 6000 has already been installed in police vehicles in Spain, clearly demonstrating that this is a solution for today – in fact, the most advanced, integrated PMR/TETRA + broadband solution available anywhere in the world. Once again, TELTRONIC is leading the way.

Final words

A future is rapidly approaching when TETRA will be fully integrated with broadband technologies such as WiMAX and LTE within a single high capacity PMR network. Intelligent vehicular, personal and remote, autonomous devices - such as cameras, servers etc. – will roam freely and communicate with each other and with devices from other networks. The largest obstacles to this vision of the future will be the availability of frequencies and multi-vendor standardization, which will slow down the process and lead to the customary missed deadlines and delays. Once these obstacles are overcome, the development of a full range of innovative products will naturally follow.

This new technology will need to be adapted to a world that is more and more connected and therefore, inevitably, more and more dangerous, prone to increasingly sophisticated attacks. TELTRONIC, working together with the rest of the TETRA community, possesses the necessary knowledge and experience to develop this new generation of solutions.

Back in the 1970s when TELTRONIC set up its business, in those bygone days before standardization, each emergency service, public authority or business organization procured its own mobile radio system designed by a manufacturer to fit the needs of each user. Upgrades, add-ons and special services such as data became increasingly expensive and it soon became clear that another model was needed for mobile communications. The extraordinary advance of mobile communications during the 1990s changed the landscape forever and standardization quickly became the industry norm.

Following the same successful model adopted by ETSI’s GSM standard for the global mass market during the mid- to late 1990s, TETRA moved into the professional communications space, buoyed by important frequency assignments in the UHF band both for nationwide public safety networks in the 380-400 MHz band and for commercial use in the 410-430 MHz band. The rich portfolio of voice and data services, the development of open interfaces supported by a strict interoperability regime and the range of products and applications developed by dozens of suppliers created a winning formula taken up by hundreds of small, medium and large organizations around the world.

In 2010, it is clear that the mobile communications landscape is very different to the one contemplated when TETRA was first devised around 20 years ago. A number of legacy analogue and proprietary digital PMR technologies still exist and other digital standards such as P25 and DMR are emerging to compete with TETRA in certain geographical and vertical markets around the world. TETRA users also need to communicate with commercial voice and data networks – fixed telephony, GSM/3G,

the Internet and Intranets – and will increasingly need to integrate with next-generation fixed and mobile networks such as WiMAX and LTE to deliver services.Public safety entities rely on their own private communications networks. TETRA offers them security, privacy and high levels of reliability (close to 100%). However, in order to function in an information-driven society, modern PMR networks must have sufficient capacity and connectivity to be able to interact with the full range of communications solutions on the market; past, present and future. Modern TETRA networks, such as those based on TELTRONIC’s Ethernet/IP-based solution, allow users to design the most adequate communications plans for all possible scenarios, including integration with all other conceivable technologies to create seamless solutions.

In the rest of this article, we look at 2 ways of integrating TELTRONIC’s NEBULA (TETRA) network with other technologies to offer a complete, future-proof, mission-critical solution which can be trusted to satisfy user needs for many years to come:

(1) Control centres(2) Multi-bearer vehicular consoles

The future of mission-critical communications: Integrating TETRA with complementary technologies

TelTronicTIMES

14

1 · 2

010

beyond TETra

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TELTRONIC Days @ 2010Utility companies energised by TETRA

TELTRONIC is the premier Spanish manufacturer of critical communications equipment and provider of a comprehensive set of products and services for the full range of government and industry sectors, particularly public safety institutions and critical infrastructure companies. TELTRONIC was founded in Zaragoza, Spain in 1974 and its roots can still be found in the city by way of its modern factory where all its solutions are still manufactured. It now has a presence in over 30 markets around the world, including a dominant position in TETRA in Latin America as well as a growing presence across Asia-Pacific.

TELTRONIC is one of a very select group of companies world-wide who offer the full range of TETRA products from infrastructure and base station equipment through to hand-held and mobile terminals and radio modems. TELTRONIC also offers additional value-added services such as integrated CAD and control centre solutions and optimised data options. We understand that each customer is unique so we tailor each solution to your specific requirements, listening and gathering as much information as possible in order to provide total customer satisfaction.

The technological and business landscape is constantly changing as we accelerate into the 21st century. TELTRONIC is moving with the times, staying at the forefront of technological innovation in the professional communications space. As the world emerges from a major financial and economic upheaval, only those companies who adapt to the new conditions can survive and flourish over the coming years. TELTRONIC is well placed to take advantage of this new business environment.

TELTRONIC DAYS are your opportunity to meet and get to know us better, try out the full range of our solutions and update your knowledge about the present and future of professional mobile communications.

TELTRONIC DAYS have already been held in countries as diverse as Mexico, Australia, Colombia, Venezuela and Vietnam during the early months of 2010. Please go to www.teltronic.es to find out more information about an upcoming event close to you. We look forward to greeting you soon.

Over the first decade of its deployment, Public Safety and Transport have consistently made up the bulk of TETRA contracts around the world. In fact, the latest TETRA Association figures, published during 2009, showed that Transport (33%) had overtaken Public Safety (32%) for the first time in numbers of deployed networks. However, Utilities (10%) now appears third on the list, with spectacular growth rates over the past couple of years. We must therefore take a closer look at trends within the energy sector to find out why TETRA is becoming so attractive as a communications tool for electricity companies.

Many utilities still operate analogue PMR networks, often supplementing a chronic lack of capacity and coverage with expensive service plans from commercial operators, who, in turn, are unable to provide the full range of required services. A lack of integration of voice and data over a single network is leading to higher operational and maintenance costs; old technology and a lack of spectrum in many geographical areas are restricting growth. Proprietary technologies tie customers to a single supplier and limited services; but companies are faced with costly service disruptions while these older technologies are replaced by newer ones.

Industry consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, and increased competition are driving energy companies to draw up a list of new requirements that any new communications system will have to meet. An upgrade to TETRA technology, such as TELTRONIC’s NEBULA solution, is the natural step forward from traditional PMR systems such as MPT 1327, which are still prevalent in the energy sector, particularly in Europe. TETRA is a global standard, which uses scarce spectrum more efficiently, allows simultaneous voice and data, greater data transmission capacity, increased security and simplified connectivity to external networks and applications such as PSTN, PABX, GSM, IP etc. Temporary integration with legacy systems can

also be implemented as migration takes place in order to guarantee continuity.

TELTRONIC has already implemented a network solution for the Brazilian power utility, COELCE, and extensive trials of TETRA technology have been undertaken with potential customers in Spain, Poland, North America and elsewhere. The complete TELTRONIC TETRA package available to utility companies offers significant advantages over other TETRA solutions and other technologies. For example:

• NEBULA permits up to 4 control channels at each base station allowing increased capacity to carry a greater number of short data messages (SDS) around the network.• NEBULA also supports circuit data, as well as packet data, allowing the implementation of a wider range of customized protocols by the customer and greater flexibility in data transmission.• Native Ethernet/IP interfaces between the network switch and base stations allow customers to use existing IP backbones, greatly reducing costs for wide-area networks.• TELTRONIC’s Synchronous Data Manager (SDM) boosts the TETRA network, significantly increasing capacity compared to normal solutions for SDS-based or packet data polling and allowing the increased use and faster refresh times for GPS, telemetry, remote control applications.• Wide-area coverage is also greatly improved by the availability of increased RF power in base stations (75W), mobiles (10W) and hand-portables (3W).

It has been found that such an advanced communications solution can dramatically reduce total operating costs in the short-term for energy companies by integrating disparate networks and operational practices. Voice communications are enhanced and protected; GPS positioning and alarm control can allow power outages to be detected and installations such as sub-stations to be monitored effectively. Telemetry and remote control applications can be managed at a lower cost allowing a higher density of control and protection units per coverage point.

Dramatic changes in the way the energy sector is run will lead to an increased demand for data communications as new applications such as Smart-Metering come on-line. TELTRONIC’s TETRA solutions are prepared for an early evolution to broadband services which will facilitate this move to a communications environment characterised by massive leaps in the levels of data transmission. The energy sector is about to get a lot smarter. The smart money is on TETRA.

TelTronic is holding a series of events around the world during 2010 to highlight its leadership and innovation in professional mobile communications technology and services. We welcome you to join us at your local event to find out the very latest about TelTronic, TeTrA and related/emerging technologies and how they can enhance your organisation’s efficiency and competitiveness.

The global energy sector is on the verge of major operational and technological changes caused by greater competition; rising energy costs and fluctuating fuel prices; the spectre of climate change and the hopes of renewable sources of energy; combined with the imminent switch to smart-metering, allowing greater controls over industrial and domestic usage via new technologies. TeTrA has a role to play in this process of change.

TETRA - P25 - Professional Mobile Broadband - CAD - Transport

www.teltronic.es

HeadquartersTeltronic S.A. Unipersonal

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advanced Solutions for Mission Critical Communications