Mission-critical mobile communications

Rather than installing separate, dedicated platforms, commercial off the shelf solutions (COTS) are emerging as governments' leading choice for their national security and emergency communications.
[Ericsson-Response]

Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson's vice president of product area radio, says: "The trend towards COTS in the national security and government sectors is partly because of a desire to use existing private sector infrastructure and resources, which also represents a more cost-effective solution."

Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster put emergency communications under the spotlight and highlighted the need for faster and more effective disaster response capabilities.

In an emergency situation, the coordination of the rescue efforts involving various local and international agencies - such as the military, police or humanitarian organizations - can be made even more difficult due to the multitude of communications platforms they use.

For example, different technologies, radio frequencies or the need for specialist training to operate equipment are factors that can hamper rescue efforts at a time when every second counts.

Commercial technologies, such as GSM or WCDMA, are currently the most widely deployed communications technologies around the world. In disaster situations they can often provide a higher degree of functionality than a dedicated, smaller, proprietary solution, and for less money.

Ola Stensby, Ericsson's manager of customer solutions, says: "Cost-efficient, interoperable solutions that require minimal training and that can be quickly deployed, or use existing infrastructure, are key success factors in mission-critical communications. A mobile phone is an everyday technology that meets these criteria.

"These practical considerations are leading to commercial WCDMA, 3G and 2G products being adopted for national security and safety communications."

Ericsson presented at the APAC Joint ITU - Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Regional Workshop on Disaster Communications - December 12 - 15, 2006.

It profiled its emergency communications expertise and a range of solutions including Government Home Networks and Emergency Response Systems.

Ericsson has a program that provides on-site communications technologies and support for relief efforts in disaster situations. The program, called Ericsson Response, has long-term partnerships with a variety of relief and United Nations organizations.