At first glance, they look like competing technologies. Narrowband TETRA versus broadband, moving towards true critical broadband. For organisations facing the challenge of upgrading a critical communications network, do they stay with what they know works, or commit to the technology of the future?

The answer is that both TETRA and broadband are technologies of the future. TETRA will keep doing what it does brilliantly, and broadband will bring additional capability. They will bring a better future by working together.

Built to talk

During the late 1980s, the development project that evolved into TETRA was given one objective. Create a digital radio infrastructure that guarantees voice calls will be transmitted and heard 100% of the time, with a zero failure rate.

The specific task TETRA had to enable, under any conditions, all the time, without a single failure, was ‘shoot/no shoot.’ The scenario sees a sniper, weapon trained on a suspect, awaiting that order in that precise form of words.

The challenge was to ensure that the word ‘no,’ would always reach its destination and always be audible, no matter how noisy or chaotic the scene. The noise-suppression technology developed to enable this is the bedrock of TETRA. It is unmatched by any other system.

Built to share data

Broadband was developed to share data. It was given no specific task. It evolved to fulfil a desirable function: to enable the digital universe. We are living in that universe now, with broadband as an increasingly indispensable tool.

Data is the DNA of broadband. Voice is the DNA of TETRA. Broadband was built for open borders and the free exchange of information. TETRA was built to protect people and property, and for the restricted exchange of information. Put them together and they become more than the sum of their parts.

Evolution and revolution

TETRA was specifically developed for the most critical of critical communications: the ‘shoot/no shoot’ scenario. When the TETRA standard was launched in 1998, there was nothing comparable in terms of voice clarity, stability, resilience and availability. There still isn’t. In the meantime, it has continued to evolve.

1998 is a very long time ago in broadband terms. Back then, ‘the web’ was only just beginning to become a household word. We still had dial-up modems offering 54kbps. We were solidly in Web 1.0 and ready for the first dot.com bubble. Fast forward 27 years and the digital revolution has transformed the web. The computing power of 1998 would barely open an app today.

Interoperability

This is where the two complementary technologies meet. TETRA is vastly complex. It has taken 40 years of the finest minds in telecommunications engineering to achieve the level of voice call quality and security it supports today. For critical communication that relies on voice, there is no comparable option.

With broadband, added-value functions like livestreamed video, drone images, AI analysis and filtering, and push-to-talk apps are enriching critical communications with new and valuable functionalities. The most powerful and effective systems combine the best of both.

Sharing stability and security

TETRA was specifically designed to communicate life or death calls, the original protocols made the infrastructure as close to 100% secure as radio technology allows. Broadband was not built for that purpose, and online security is a multi-billion-dollar industry for that reason. But this does not prevent broadband from being integrated into the secure world of TETRA critical communications. As long as the gateway is secure, broadband can bring all its power to the network.

Resilience and availability

A critical communications system must keep functioning, whatever happens. For this reason, TETRA systems are routinely designed with eight hours of battery backup. If a hurricane has torn down the power lines or an earthquake collapsed a building on top of the local substation, this buffer allows time to get the grid back up and running or to find alternate power sources.

In a disaster scenario, hybrid TETRA-broadband networks will keep running when pure broadband systems may not. They will be hostage to whatever backup the mobile networks have defined. This is typically 30-60 minutes but can be as little as zero. In hybrid configuration, both technologies can continue to do what they are best at, whatever the conditions.

Better together

For networks that rely on stable and resilient voice communication – that is, all critical communication networks – the best achievable solution is to combine the voice power of TETRA with the data power of broadband. Where that is not possible for cost or logistical reasons, TETRA will remain the default technology for critical communication as long as voice remains the primary mode of human interaction.

TETRA’s growth trajectory is twofold: it is supporting the refreshment of existing public safety networks while simultaneously driving the digitalization path in transportation, utilities, and critical industrial sectors globally. What is particularly noteworthy is how TETRA has transcended its European roots, which represent 49% of the total TETRA market. Omdia has observed how Asia is the fastest growing region, and now represents 23% of the TETRA market, followed by the growing adoption in the Middle East, and American markets.

TETRA is a continuously evolving narrowband standard that provides the backbone of critical communication systems worldwide. For mission-critical users requiring group voice communication and messaging services using narrowband technologies on dedicated frequencies, TETRA remains the optimal multi-vendor interoperable choice.

Find out more about the benefits and potential of TETRA, and its implementation around the world, at Critical Communications World, 17-19 June 2025 in Brussels, Belgium.

Read the full article here