Two years after the publication of the presidential decree that laid the legal foundations for the National Integrated Radiocommunication Network (RINR), the mission-critical radio communications sector for public safety in Mexico is moving towards free competition.

The Mexican government’s measure has helped the different players in the sector to find a more favorable environment, and there has been a diversification of technologies that comply with the standards established by law.

As Teltronic Mexico’s deputy general manager, David Ludeña, explains, “the country’s states and municipalities now have the possibility of deciding the type of technology they need for their public safety radio communications,” a process in which the TETRA standard has begun to gain ground over P25 technology.

“There are already several states that have switched their Tetrapol network to TETRA. Today there are more than 700 TETRA repeater base stations and more than 100,000 terminals in operation. We are talking about more repeater stations than the National Radio Communication Network and the P25 sites of Sedena,” Ludeña assures.

Since the decree, the TETRA standard has been embraced in some of the cities with the largest police corporations in the country, including Ciudad de Mexico, Monterrey and Guadalajara; as well as Leon, Guanajuato, and Toluca, in the State of Mexico.

“The Tetra network is growing and this is very important because, the November 2020 decree sought to open up free competition; upgrades are being made in different states and in others they opt for the P25 standard, in an open competition for both standards,” added Ludeña.

IMPORTANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY

One of the characteristics that the creation of the RINR must guarantee, from the presidential decree, is the confidentiality of the communications of federal, state and municipal security agencies. “The requirement of these high levels of confidentiality requires technologies that cannot be tapped, thus preventing third parties from having access to listen in on these communications,” Ludeña emphasizes.

Ludeña warns that technologies that are outside the standards recognized by the decree do not meet these confidentiality characteristics or do not offer sufficient information to determine whether they are secure or not, and highlights the value offered by TETRA and P25.

Ludeña pointed out that other proprietary technologies that seek to enter the RINR do not comply with the confidentiality guidelines established by law, which opens the door to the vulnerability of mission critical communications, whether for police, health or emergency services and civil protection.