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Stuart Will has been working in the field of TETRA since 2005, where at Artevea he held the position of Head of Sales having overall responsibility for all worldwide

Sales Channels and direct sales, at Selex Communications (now Selex Electronic Systems) as International Sales & Marketing Manager role, he covered sales for PMR (TETRA, DMR) and other technologies across various global territories and most recently with Sepura, and so has a wealth of international experience in this area.

In his last role, Stuart was specifically brought in to address the emerging TETRA market of North America where his role was responsible for building the market for Sepura based products, solutions and services. He now brings this experience to his new role.

Q: TETRA (terrestrial trunked radio) is the mobile radio standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. Over the years it has seen worldwide use and acceptance well beyond Europe. Yet, attempts

to raise the profile of TETRA technology in North America remain challenging. Why is that, particularly in the U.S.? A: It is true that North America has been a challenging market, and the reasons for this have been numerous. Amongst these, misunderstanding about narrow banding and the ability use TETRA, the clarifications with the FCC and misconceptions around interoperability all served to make the LMR community think about where TETRA would be appropriate in the market. However that in one sense was a good thing as now users are better informed and can now more clearly understand the differences between the technologies and who, how and why they can take advantage of TETRA. With the regulatory issues now resolved TETRA is freely ready and available – and that is the key message going forward. The needs and business drivers of users within their particular sectors are exactly the same for North America as for the rest of the world. It is clear that TETRA can only gain greater adoption in the US and Canada going forward.

Q: As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of TETRA communications components, what is being done by Hytera and your fellow suppliers of TETRA solutions to surmount these challenges? A: It is in everyone’s interest that users can see TETRA is a truly open standard, multi-vendor offering and has an entire eco-system of applications. Having a broad portfolio that is targeted at local needs, working collectively with suppliers, partners and applications companies all makes TETRA an attractive proposition, with the ability to squeeze greater value out of the investment, and have a low overall cost of ownership. Beyond this Hytera does have a distinct advantage in North America. Our ability to look after customers through our network of partners means we have a local presence most places. This matters… and it helps to raise the profile considerably.

TETRA Adoption in North America Gaining GroundEmergency Comms talks to Stuart Will, Regional Sales Director North America at Hytera

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Q: I know you are members of the North America TETRA Forum, can you tell me a little bit about the organization, and how and why Hytera supports their efforts?A: The TETRA community has worked very well together in developing market to promote the standard, putting the technology first and the competitive landscape second, and has driven this message mostly through the North American TETRA Forum. Hytera has been very proactive within this arena helping the forum to promote TETRA as an open standard multi-vendor digital technology and a viable digital solution, addressing future needs of existing LMR radio users. The forum also makes representations to Legislators and Regulators on radio frequency spectrum for TETRA networks, it represents North American interests in the evolution of the TETRA standard, facilitates development of voice and data applications and other value add services in the region. It facilitates the exchange of information concerning TETRA amongst members, potential users and the existing user communities. Hytera believes such an organization is essential to drive best practice within the industry and that is why we support these efforts.

Q: In a nutshell what are the benefits of bringing TETRA to North America, how does it compare with other solutions currently being used by the Emergency Communications community? A: In a nutshell, more choice, and the ability to do more for less. You have to remember that TETRA was initially targeted to meet the critical communications requirements of the Public Safety users, and now, given the multi-vendor competitive marketplace TETRA has created, these benefits are now available to commercial users. The TETRA feature set, the levels and types of encryption, the data capability, all with a wide range of manufacturers offering products to suit different needs have served to fulfill Public Safety user needs around the world. In North America, clearly there was a similar but different list of criteria for the needs of the Public Safety user community, and P25 is the currently preferred technology. For one, large geographic areas, where coverage and not capacity was the greater consideration,

the use of high power user devices and backwards compatibility with analogue are considerations which people talk about when promoting P25, however this does come at a cost and feature set differential. Both technologies have their place for sure.

Q: With P25 being the officially adopted Radio Standard for Public Safety in the U.S., does that mean your target market for TETRA adoption is only among other mobile radio users such as utilities etc. Or is there still opportunity for TETRA use among the eComms community as well?A: The early adopters of TETRA tend to be the Transport sector, Utilities, Business and Industry, Oil and Gas, Open Cast Mining and other ‘heavy users’. I see no difference with the US and Canadian markets, and the North American early deployments illustrate this. There will be a critical mass of deployments and the market matured to a certain point where what users are doing and able to do with TETRA will become of interest to the eComms community going forward. There will be opportunity in some instances already, so it is a matter of discussion with vendors what the solution could look like.

Q: One of the biggest concerns in disaster response since 9/11 has been the challenges of interoperability across agencies and responders. How do you respond to those who would say bringing TETRA to North America only adds to such problems, and does not help to fix them? There are many countries where P25 and TETRA operate side-by-side without any issues currently are there not?A: Interoperability requirements are used as a common reason for not considering any new technology. The fact is that the same problem can very well exist where the same technology is present where for technical reasons the systems still do not interoperate, be it users on different frequency bands, non-enabling configuration or other practical issues. Notwithstanding this there are several ways to bridge communications between one user group and another and the exciting thing is that there are several Applications Partners in North America who are now approaching us looking to interface with TETRA solutions (at the air, console or core level) to enable such cross platform communications so this concern can become a non-issue. It is working with these partners that will potentially open the market up further so others can take advantage of TETRA’s value. Given this ability I certainly don’t see TETRA is adding to any problem here.

Q: Where do you think the greatest effort needs to be made in making your case for greater TETRA acceptance in the US and Canada, at the user level or the legislative/regulatory level, or both?A: If you had asked me that question 18 months ago I would have given you a different version of the answer, but I truly believe TETRA is gaining momentum now in the mindshare of users. The last two Utilities in the US chose Hytera’s TETRA over other solutions, with TETRA being seen as the technology of choice for users next generation of digital radio, recognizing what potential is open to them as they grow. Channel Partner events are generating more TETRA related enquiries, and the ‘TETRA Town’ area of IWCE was very well attended. Yes, the geography is large, so much more Smart and ultra-thin TETRA radio - Hytera Z1p t

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needs to be done to communicate to everyone, but addressing user level acceptance of TETRA is going well, and remains the key.

Q: With what you are at liberty to discuss of course, does Hytera currently produce, or have in development TETRA solutions that are designed to address the particular technical and other challenges of the North American market/user?A: Hytera’s portfolio is broad and meets well the needs of the North American market. From very flexible and scalable IP Infrastructure solutions, to a range of terminals which cover vehicular radios, portables for heavy users, slimmer versions for managers and intrinsically safe versions, to a series of applications from both in-house and 3rd parties, some of which will be particularly apt for the local market, we have much to offer the market. The range is competitive and positioned at the feature set and price-point to make TETRA particularly attractive to the North American market. Another main string to the Hytera American bow is that we benefit greatly from an enviably large eco-system of Partners. This gives us the local spread that you need across North America. Ability to support is key to overall credibility, especially when you are dealing with a perceived ‘new’ technology. With our specialist team out of Miramar, Florida we provide radio expertise in TETRA and beyond enabling us to position TETRA appropriately. This expertise is very helpful to provide knowledge transfer and to ensure successful deployments.

Q: Have you been successful in introducing these solutions anywhere that you are at liberty to discuss?A: We believe one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to TETRA. In 2013 alone, Hytera successfully realized two very important projects in the U.S. and thereby is playing a key role in the TETRA development in North America. With Cobb EMC and Diverse Power, two providers of electric energy-related services in the states of Georgia and Alabama selected Hytera for their TETRA mobile radio system. Both solutions are highly tailored to the requirements of the customers and use Hytera infrastructure, radios as well as customized software.We will always look to offer the optimal solution to the local market. We understand that the

frequency landscape especially in the 450 MHz band is different than in other countries, but we are happy to find suitable solutions fitting to the actual site requirements. This kind of "localisation" is exactly one of our strengths.

We are currently also in talks with several Application Partners where we will be looking at some ‘home grown’ applications to enhance the Hytera offering.

As we are under NDAs with appropriate companies I guess you’ll just have to await those announcements!

For more information visit: www.hytera-mobilfunk.com | tetra.hytera.us

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Future-proof TETRA 2 base station - Hytera DIB-R5