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Reach
Issue 7 2014
T
he advantages of using
TETRA for today’s mission
critical communications
are not only recognised in Great
Britain, but across the globe
countries still acknowledge the
technical benefits of using it for
their public safety networks. In
Germany, the programme to build
the world´s largest TETRA network
is entering the home stretch, and
for the past four years Airwave has
played a key role.
The new German TETRA network
will have up to 4,500 base sites
and serve some 1,000,000 users
from the police, fire and ambulance
services, together with other
public safety organisations. The
Bundesanstalt für den Digitalfunk
der Behörden und Organisationen
für Sicherheitsaufgaben (BDBOS),
the federal organisation overseeing
the network build and operation, has
been working with Airwave since
2012 and the now 50-strong Airwave
team comprises experts in many
fields, from facilities management
By Kai Fryder, Head of DACH Region, Airwave Deutschland GmbH
and network design, to health and
safety aspects and the optimisation
of operational processes.
A large share of the overall network
operation has been allocated to the
country’s 16 Bundesländer (federated
states) who will manage the base
site infrastructure, run the access
networks, provide user support and
manage the handheld devices and
control rooms. This means each
Bundesland is a small network
operator, with all the associated
challenges and resource requirements.
Armed with the experience of
building a secure and dedicated
network, Airwave knows only too well
that a network of this scale does not
only rely on having the right people
and processes in place, but also on
utilising the best systems available
on the market. The German network
has a different infrastructure supplier
to Airwave’s Emergency Services
Network (ESN) in Great Britain, but
the operational requirements and
business support systems remain
the same. So it was only natural that
Transferring
knowledge
and expertise
When Airwave was approached by
one Bundesland to provide guidance
and support for underground railway
coverage in one of Germany’s largest
cities, it was clear that our reputation
had preceded us.
Germany was at a crucial stage
of evaluating companies design
proposals for their underground
network which included stations
and tunnels. Knowing that Airwave
had done this before, providing
mission critical Emergency Services
Network coverage in the London
Underground, Germany consulted
Airwave for that added reassurance.
A number of local companies
had already presented their
designs for the proposed network
to include stations and tunnels.
Airwave Germany, with the support
of their colleagues in Great
Britain, was invited to validate the
different proposals and provide
recommendations based on their
experience. By visiting the site a
number of potential issues were
highlighted, most of which were
familiar to those dealt with by the
teams in Great Britain.
Airwave Germany was able
to recommend tried and tested
solutions, reassuring the customer
that the source of any likely
problems was now fixed.
when the German user organisation
saw the requirement for a powerful
user management solution, they
looked to Airwave.
Airwave’s Asset Manager
Enterprise (AME) software was used
as a blueprint for the new tool which
has now been developed, and which
Gerd Altmann/pixelio.de
Airwave abroad –
