Sepura radios approved by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security

Sepura TETRA radios in 350MHz have received official endorsement from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) of China. The achievement of this milestone is significant as it will allow the procurement and use of Sepura products in the frequency band that will become the standard for the Chinese police.

From November 30th to December 2nd 2006 experts from the MPS conducted extensive and rigorous formal tests on over 50 Sepura radios, including SRH3500 and SRH3800 TETRA hand-held and SRM3500 TETRA vehicle radios. These tests were based on the Chinese Police 350 MHz TETRA digital standard. The terminals were trialled on Motorola and EADS TETRA networks specifically deployed for the tests by the police bureaus of Shenzhen and Zhuhai. Expert police communications teams, including representatives from the Police of Guangdong Province and the cities of Shenzhen and Zhu Hai. All Sepura terminals demonstrated full interoperability on both networks and successfully passed all tests conducted.

China is expected to become the dominant TETRA market in Asia by the end of the decade. Apart from China's obvious size, the prediction is underpinned by government policy. In 2000, China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) made a landmark decision to adopt the international TETRA standard for digital public safety radio. The MII's estimate for digital trunked radio terminals was, at the time, in the region of 8-9 million units. There are estimated to be 5 million professional analogue radios in use today in China with nearly 2 million used by public safety organisations. Most of these are expected to migrate to TETRA in the coming years. Currently, there are over 30 TETRA networks in China, the largest being the Beijing ‘Just Top' network, currently supporting some 40,000 police officers and government employees. A recent contract extension with the infrastructure provider will expand this capacity to 90,000.

Mr. Ma Xiao Dong, Chief Engineer of the Information and Communication Bureau from the Chinese MPS comments: "These tests demonstrate that the 350MHz TETRA digital standard is technically and operationally capable of delivering voice and data features, a fundamental requirement for Chinese police agencies. In addition, they also demonstrate compatibility of Sepura radios with all 350-370 MHz frequency infrastructure vendors systems trialled in China to date. These trials show that the 350 MHz products and networks are available, mature and ready to be widely deployed and supported by multiple suppliers. Mr Ma Xiao Dong adds: "Sepura enjoys a leading position in the TETRA world market and continues showing leadership in China. Sepura is strongly committed to China and to providing technical customer support locally�.

Kevin Graham, Asia Pacific Sales Director for Sepura says: "Sepura is committed to the Chinese MPS and will continue supporting the Ministry's migration from analogue to digital: our entire product range supports the Chinese 350MHz radio frequency band. We will soon also introduce to the Chinese public security market our Gateway and DMO Repeater to provide users with extended coverage. Moreover, we are committed to the development and production of TETRA radios in China to further improve our support to the growing number of Chinese customers now including Beijing municipal government, police and emergency services, Shanghai airport and other commercial and industry customers�.