Critical Communications Broadband Group looks to global standard

A working group of the TETRA + Critical Communications Association, the new Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG) will drive the development and adoption of common global mobile broadband standards and solutions for users who operate in a mission critical or business critical environment. The CCBG will also work with the TCCA’s Spectrum Group and PSC-Europe to lobby for appropriate harmonized spectrum in which to deploy critical broadband services and applications.

The first elected chair of the CCBG is Tony Gray of P3 communications. An independent consultant, Gray advises users, operators, standards bodies, regulatory authorities and the wider industry. Elected Vice Chair of the CCBG is Emmanuelle Villebrun from the French Ministry of Interior.

The aim of the CCBG is to enable all mission-critical and business-critical users to access their information systems, Intranet and Internet at broadband speeds using their professional mobile devices wherever they are and whenever they have the need. This broadband capability should meet the specific needs of the user in the same way that critical voice and narrowband data services are currently delivered by technologies such as TETRA, Tetrapol, P25 and others.

Attendees at the first CCBG meeting included representatives from industry standards and regulatory bodies, manufacturers, user organisations, and governments. All are members of the TCCA. Attending as guests were Andy Thiessen from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology and Balázs Bertényi from the 3GPP Systems Architecture Group.