FCC endorses TETRA in the US

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced its Report and Order which expands on the waiver granted in May 2011 for the use of TETRA in the US under its Part 90 rules. This announcement follows a similar one by Industry Canada last May.

The announcement gives further certainty to organisations in the business, industry and land transportation sectors which are considering migration to TETRA digital radio communications, a mature and open standard that has been now adopted in more than 125 countries worldwide.

The FCC has stated that “TETRA is a spectrally efficient digital technology with the potential to provide valuable benefits to land mobile radio users”.

It also reports “that by accommodating four voice (and data) paths in each 25 kHz channel TETRA achieves 6.25 kHz voice path efficiency, thus meeting, indeed exceeding, the 12.5 kHz voice path “narrowbanding efficiency standard” applicable in the 450-470 MHz segment of the UHF band requirements that are mandated from Jan 2013.

The FCC has also acknowledged that the TETRA Industry had demonstrated to its satisfaction that TETRA provides at least as much, if not more, interference protection as other available technologies.

Gordon Watling, CEO, Sepura, commented on the decision, “This FCC ruling confirms to potential customers in the US that they can look forward to enjoying the benefits that TETRA digital communication solutions offer. TETRA has already been approved for use in over 125 countries, and we have been working hard with the TETRA + Critical Communications Association and our partners for many years to ensure that the nine million PMR users in the US are also able to choose a proven, open communications standard that has already delivered significant improvements in the quality of communications and productivity for so many of our global customers.”