Following a change in policy by the Federal Communications Commission, radio users in the US who require mission-critical communications can now consider TETRA as a technology option.

The FCC has given approval for TETRA-compliant voice and data products to be made available in the US to business, industry and transport.

“We applaud the FCC’s decision to allow the use of existing, internationally accepted TETRA technology in North America”, said William R. Moroney, president and chief executive of the US-based global trade association, the Utilities Telecom Council. “It’s an opportunity that is long overdue.”

In its decision, the FCC has granted a waiver of its Part 90 rules to allow equipment conforming to the ETSI TETRA standard to be type-accepted in the US. The waiver covers radios operating in the 450–470 MHz and 817–824/862–869 MHz bands. Furthermore, the FCC announcement proposes to follow the waiver with a rule-making process that will allow TETRA and similar equipment to be permissible permanently.

World standard

“We are obviously extremely pleased”, commented Phil Godfrey, chairman of the TETRA Association. “We’ve been working on this for a couple of years. Our primary objective is to get to a position where the users in North America have freedom to choose between the variety of different technologies that exist. Previously TETRA had not been available to them and so we’ve been working hard to try and change it that so that they are able to make that choice.”

TETRA, which has so far been adopted by 114 countries, is the world’s best-established digital standard for critical communications. It has become the technology of choice for professional users around the world in the public safety, military, air, road and rail transport, public utilities and many other market sectors.

Operating in 25?kHz channels but providing four voice or data channels on a single carrier, TETRA is also one of the most efficient PMR technologies available today. It offers rich functionality which is in now widespread use in communications services for airports, overground and underground rail, bus, tram and taxi operators, fuel, power, water and petrochemical industries – and has become the first choice for the co-ordination of major events such as the Olympic Games.

Cost savings

For many mission-critical users in the US, TETRA will provide an attractive alternative to the Project 25 digital technology developed in North America for the public safety community.

“Some of the industry sectors outside of public safety have suggested to us that they don’t feel P25 is the right technology for them”, said Phil Godfrey. “That’s one of the reasons that we have been doing the work we’ve been doing with the FCC. It’s because over the past two or three years we’ve had an increasing number of people coming to us saying, ‘Is there anything that can be done so that we can use Tetra?’

For these users, TETRA could also offer a significant cost advantage. “There is absolutely no doubt that TETRA has more competitive supplier base than Project 25, especially in infrastructure”, Mr Godfrey added. “Certainly, we were told within the past 18 months that, even with bulk purchasing, users were having to pay up to $2500 for a Project 25 radio – and an equivalent TETRA radio would be typically $1000 or less.”

Phil Kidner, chief executive of the TETRA Association, commented: “The Association is delighted by the FCC’s decision, and grateful to PowerTrunk and Sepura for providing the technical advice and information to assist the FCC in its consideration of our waiver application. We would also like to thank RCC Consultants for providing their expertise and knowledge of the US market and its procedures.”

Difference of approach

The TETRA Association explains that the FCC’s original objection arose from a difference in measurement techniques for radio emissions. Elsewhere in the world, regulators accept the ETSI ‘adjacent channel coupled power’ specification as a measure for protecting neighbouring channels from interference. But in the USA and Canada, the regulators employ a ‘spectrum mask’ approach. TETRA transmissions slightly exceed this mask, although the adjacent channel performance, which is a measure of interference protection, meets the FCC requirements with a considerable margin to spare, the TETRA Association says.

The full text of the FCC waiver document (adopted on April 18 and released on April 26) can be found at www.fcc.gov