The United Kingdom continues to dominate news related to Trans European Trunked Radio technology, as a company there recently took steps to offer the first and only commercially available network based on the technology.
Dolphin Telecommunications, formerly known as TetraLink Telecommunications Ltd., announced it plans to award Nokia Corp. the contract to build a TETRA network in the country. TETRA is a two-way trunked radio technology developed by Nokia and Motorola Inc.
As a digital wireless communications standard, TETRA to date has been used primarily by police and other emergency services. However, analysts believe it is just as useful as a public-access solution. The Strategis Group released a study last year that predicted the technology will be the dominant trunked radio standard in Europe in five to six years.
Dolphin was awarded the TETRA license in June 1996. The company plans to use the technology to integrate mobile data and voice services. When complete, it is expected to be the world’s first nationwide TETRA network offered commercially. The company is a division of Dolphin Corp. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Telesystem International Wireless, which is a member of the Telesystem Group of Canada.
Nokia signed a contract in December to deliver a TETRA network for Finland’s Ministry of Interior, which has been testing a TETRA system for almost a year.
Other TETRA customers of Nokia include the Helsinki City Energy Co., TeleDanmark, the Dutch Police and Telestra of Australia. All still are testing the technology.
Dolphin’s contract with Nokia is valued at $80 million and primarily focuses on TETRA infrastructure, although Nokia also will provide Dolphin 40,000 handsets to use with the system, according to the agreement.
As a codeveloper of TETRA technology, Nokia is involved with several of the United Kingdom’s efforts to adopt the solution. The company is a participant in the Quadrant Consortium, which is to date the lone bidder for a contract to design and plan a new digital radio service to integrate the entire country’s emergency services.
However TETRA is not the only trunked radio standard. The French-Canadian joint venture Matra Communications developed a similar two-way digital trunked radio technology called Tetrapol. Matra, made up of Canada’s Northern Telecom Ltd. and the Lagardhre Groupe in France, has challenged the United Kingdom’s decision to exclude any non-TETRA technologies from the bid, citing European Union competition rules. That dispute remains at issue in the United Kingdom’s High Court.
Despite the feud, TETRA remains the only technology recognized by the European Telecommunications Standard Institute as an open digital trunked radio standard. The organization is considering Tetrapol’s application.
Regardless, Tetrapol will likely remain a technology designed specifically for police and defense communications.
