ASTRID, the public safety communications network operator in Belgium, announced that in the autumn of 2022, new options will be available for the ASTRID service Blue Light Mobile, which provides priority voice and data communications for the emergency and security services. Matthias Barrie, product manager at ASTRID, explains.

We have seen a sharp increase in the number of users of Blue Light Mobile in recent years. In 2021 no less than 31% more than the year before," says Matthias Barrie. “There is clearly a growing need for more data communication among the various user organizations. We also see that Blue Light Mobile is increasingly becoming part of the standard equipment of users. So not just for 'spectacular' applications such as drones, but really in daily operation. In order to increase the convenience for users, we will be implementing a number of innovations in the coming months.”

WHAT'S NEW?

Expansion of pre-emption for a larger group of users

Blue Light Mobile's PRIOR formula offers a higher priority level than the Blue Light Mobile FIRST formula, by allowing immediate availability of the service, even in the event of network saturation. The number of PRIOR cards is currently limited to a certain number of users per organization. However, the Proximus network is now mature enough to offer pre-emption to a larger group of users. As of this autumn, ASTRID will be able to offer this functionality more widely and enable our users to order this card profile indefinitely. For example, we want to improve the user experience and simplify a number of things for the administrators of the subscriptions. will offer this self-service not only for Blue Light Mobile, but also for radio and paging.

Self-service portal MyASTRID

A new MyASTRID portal will be launched in the autumn where administrators can request, activate, change and cancel subscriptions for their teams themselves. The portal will offer this self-service not only for Blue Light Mobile, but also for radio and paging.

New SIM cards

The new SIM cards will be compatible with the latest technologies that will enable the transition to future generation systems. Blue Light Mobile is thus already building the bridge to the mission-critical communication of tomorrow.