According to the project, this follows the awarding of two contracts to the “first ranked consortia of the phase 3 call-off competition,” following their successful completion of the previous prototype stage. The consortia in question are led by Airbus DS and Frequentis AG.

The BroadWay project is a collaborative pan-European effort intended to enable cross-border ‘roaming,’ allowing first responders access to broadband across the continent.

Speaking about the future of the project, a spokesperson for BroadWay said: “The consortia will be tasked with taking their prototypes into live useable pilot systems that will be further evaluated by the BroadWay practitioner evaluation team. 

“The final BroadWay pilot is required to reach ‘technology readiness level 8,’ representing a complete and fully operational system, achieving the best performance possible for all 11 BroadWay objectives. A primarily goal for phase 3 aims for both pilot systems to be interconnected and provided as-a-service.”

Frequentis new business development and programme manager, Charlotte Rösener, said: “On behalf of the BroadPort consortium, we are very proud and honoured to be elected for the third and final phase. 

“As an innovative European pre-commercial procurement project, BroadWay aims to enhance cross-border cooperation between first responders and public safety organisations. The outcomes will be available for immediate use at European and national levels.”

Eric Davalo, head of Europe for Airbus Secure Land Communications, said: “BroadWay is an innovatio-driven program to ensure interoperability by design, leveraging 4G and 5G technology, for pan-European collaboration among police, fire brigades and emergency medical services. We are truly honored to have been selected for the final step of such an important project.”

The BroadWay procurers group includes 11 government ministries from across Europe. Countries involved include Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain. This group is led by Belgian mission critical network operator, ASTRID. The BroadWay pilot phase will continue until late 2022.