APCO and TCCA join forces

The affiliation between the APCO Global Alliance and TETRA Critical Communications Association to support the Public Safety Communications Research laboratories, in their efforts to raise the awareness of the need for mission-critical standards for new-generation technologies, marks an important first step in the closer collaboration between the global representative bodies.

APCO Australasia’s chairman and current chair of the APCO Global Alliance, Geoff Spring, said, “It is vital that Australia’s public safety agencies have access to the same seamless communications capabilities that Australians now enjoy. However, these same capabilities need to be strengthened to meet the demands of public safety agencies when being used for public safety events ranging from a single event through to major disasters requiring the involvement of one or more agencies.

“Importantly, Australians will have the expectation that they will be able to use the same multimedia LTE technology to access and assist public safety agencies by providing text, pictures and video relating to events and, likewise, the agencies can communicate with individuals and communities using the same technologies,” he continued.

The work to put the affiliation in place commenced through discussions that took place at the 2012 APCO Australasia Conference and Exhibition in Queensland in March. These conversations continued through meetings held in Manchester, UK and Dubai, UAE and culminated with co-coordinated announcements being made in Washington DC at the National Broadband Summit and in Dubai UAE at the TETRA World Congress.

APCO Australasia is also working closely with the Australian TETRA Association to replicate the affiliation announced between the global associations.