Telia Finland has trialled a new network that prioritises emergency public safety communications in times of busy LTE use.
The operator used Nokia’s LTE RAN infrastructure in the trials, which began last year and also involved the country’s State Security Networks organisation.
It held a number of test scenarios, such as being able to deliver priority communications during an ice hockey game in a large venue.
Finland is in the midst of shifting from existing Tetra public safety networks to an LTE-based one.Â
Sami Orakoski, COO, State Security Networks Group said: “Although the current TETRA-based network will be in use for some time, we have now started working with commercial operators to lay the foundation for delivering public safety communication with LTE and future generation technologies.”
Nokia said other benefits of LTE are the ability to deliver situational awareness, and command and control.
Yesterday it announced new additions to its ViTrust range of critical communications services, which included a portable network for crisis situations.
Tommi Uitto, Head of Global Product Sales, Mobile Networks at Nokia, added: “The test results show that we can prioritise public safety communication over an LTE network, even when that network is extremely busy. We can use this insight to accelerate the adoption of LTE-based public safety applications, not only here in Finland, but across the globe.”
Pasi Mehtonen, Head of Operator Business at Telia Finland added: “Everyone understands the importance of public safety communication in exceptional circumstances. The successful trials show that by combining advanced technology know-how, together with deep experience of providing mission-critical services we can pave the way for future solutions.”