Belgian emergency and security services TETRA network operator, ASTRID, has launched Blue Light Mobile, providing broadband data from three Belgian commercial networks on a single SIM card

ASTRID is preparing for the strong growth in data applications by developing Blue Light Mobile. It provides the best coverage in Belgium through commercial 3G networks for emergency and security services. The SIM card allows Blue Light Mobile users onto a private cloud to operate applications within a secure environment.

With 49 police zones along Belgium’s borders, the coverage of one network is too low. The can be avoided by using Blue Light Mobile, provided by three Belgian operators and eleven others in four neighbouring countries. ASTRID users have priority, meaning heavy data traffic will not reduce connectivity.

The private cloud network integrates various emergency and security services onto one shared platform, promoting the exchange of data. Guarantees have also been built in by ASTRID to protect data security.

The network is allowing police officers to be alerted when a motorway camera identifies a stolen car, searching databases quickly and efficiently. Emergency services can also log on to their service’s intranet to perform administrative tasks away from the office.

Experiences have so far proved very positive, according to Niko Lardenoit, functional and technical manager for the Beveren police zone. “Our police zone lies right along the border with the Netherlands and covers a large port area, which affects available coverage. However, our teams in the field report that data communications through Blue Light Mobile are even faster than via a fixed computer back at the station.”

Blue Light Mobile has been tested over recent months in around ten police zones and fire services. The police zone for Beveren in the province of Oost-Vlaanderen was the first of these pilots. It found that calls to dispatching were redundant through database searches in the field, reducing incidences of mistake.

“Blue Light Mobile means that the police, fire services, and ambulance teams will be able to work more efficiently”, says Daniel Haché, ASTRID’s external relations director. “Ambulance teams will receive data about the patient faster, even as they are travelling to the scene. The police will have a photo of a missing or wanted person more quickly at hand. In other words, the work performed by the emergency and security services will get better.”

With Blue Light Mobile, ASTRID has become a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), supplying services via third-party networks. “We are the first in the world to use this formula”, says Christian Mouraux, project leader for Blue Light Mobile. “Already quite a few experts from abroad have been contacting us with an interest in creating a similar service.”