ARCIA update: LMR is still important

Since the last update ARCIA has held our annual NSW events in Sydney over two days, including conference, training workshops and networking dinner. The conference and workshops were again well attended, with a broad range of radio and critical communications topics covered. This year’s recipient of the NSW State Professional of the Year Award, presented at the dinner, was Robert Glover from Mastercom — who was selected from a very strong line-up of nominees for his dedication, professionalism and commitment to the LMR sector over more than 30 years.

In early June the industry gathered in Christchurch for Comms Connect NZ and from all reports it was another excellent event, with both local and international stakeholders gathering to ensure collaboration, education and the building of personal networks continues for all those attending. It was great to see our team, represented by CEO Paul Davis, meet with our RFUANZ colleagues and attend their AGM, continuing our longstanding collaboration, including on training and education.

Many ARCIA members also attended Critical Communications World, put on by TCCA. This year the event was held in Brussels, with many new announcements from suppliers at the premier European event for critical communication technologies, as expected.

Most recently, we held our second Sundowner in Tasmania for 2025 in Launceston, and while numbers were a little lower than they were in the capital, it was a good night, with new contacts made for members who were able to attend, which is a key part of their success. And bookings are now open for our upcoming Queensland events, to be held at South Brisbane’s Greek Club across 23–24 July, including three training workshops, our conference and the state networking dinner.

During all these events we witness the affirmation that land mobile radio is still important and indeed around the globe the market is growing. I believe that one of the reasons for this is all the new use cases and options to connect LMR to broadband. You might say that broadband is bringing new life to LMR.

The ARCIA Spectrum committee is currently working on a revised CBRS consultation paper. There have also been Association discussions re: 4.9 GHz spectrum use and a possible plan for coordination and management. ARCIA is concerned that, without coordination, public safety users won’t get the full benefit of broadband technology in emergency situations.

Finally, our AGM will be held on 27 August. If you have some time and would like to find out what makes the association tick, reach out to our CEO for more information on how you can help on the committee.

Hamish Duff, President (Hon), ARCIA – Australia’s Radio & Critical Communications Association.

Top image credit: iStock.com/Lakeview_Images