November 2018 – Membership of the Australasian TETRA and Critical Communications Forum (ATCCF) unanimously supported name change of the ATCCF to Australasian Critical Communications Forum (ACCF) based on updated charter to support all global open standards which continues to include digital LMR standard TETRA but now also DMR, P25 and all the 3GPP/ETSI broadband and mission critical BB standards (LTE/4G and 5G).

The Australasian Critical Communications Forum (ACCF), formerly the Australasian TETRA and Critical Communications Forum is a local chapter of the The international Critical Communications Forum (TCCA). Along with the TCCA the ACCF continues to advocate on behalf of mission and business critical stakeholders in respect to global open standards which continues to include digital LMR standard TETRA and  the DMR, P25 critical communications standards and all the 3GPP/ETSI broadband and mission critical Broadband standards ( LTE/4g and 5G) to ensure standards are established so stakeholder and professional user requirements are adequately addressed. (http://www.3gpp.org// , https://www.etsi.org/ )

The TCCA www.tcca.info with over 130 member organizations globally has been primarily responsible driving the ETSI TETRA open standard including interoperability compliance testing of manufacturers thereby establishing a multi-vendor ecosystem. The TCCA also participates in the MCPTT interoperability testing of critical Broadband (LTE) with ETSI and 3GPP members.

Mission Critical TETRA Technology.
TETRA digital trunked mobile radio for voice and data has found acceptance internationally. TETRA’s global success has been mainly due to compliance to an open standard of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) – https://www.etsi.org/ and users’ needs for reliable, secure enhanced voice and data product & services beyond the capabilities of previous and alternate proprietary technologies. The ETSI TETRA standard received significant input from the various manufacturers and prospective users by way of the original international TETRA Association now known as “The Critical Communication Association” (TCCA).

Critical Broadband (LTE) Technology
Significant TCCA support has been dedicated to global efforts to include mission critical features within the LTE Broadband standards through the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) http://www.3gpp.org//. TCCA is a 3GPP Marketing Representation Partner (MRP) that has the ability to offer market advice to 3GPP and to bring into the 3GPP scope a consensus view of market requirements (e.g., services, features and functionality).  Internationally the 3GPP consortium is making progress with the releases of standardised mission critical Broadband technology including interoperability testing where the TCCA plays an active role through its Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG) and the Broadband Industry group (BIG).

The TCCA and the ACCF main goals are to drive the development and operation of critical mobile and broadband standards and solutions for public safety and all other critical communications users with a focus on standardised critical broadband and the transition from Narrowband critical technologies into one common 3GPP standard critical broadband solutions (LTE/4G and 5G).

The TCCA, together with ETSI and other key organisations, is moving forward with several broadband-specific initiatives. These include participation in the mission critical push to talk (MCPTT/MCX) Plugtests events and participation in the Mission Critical Open Platform (MCOP) project  www.mcopenplatform.org.  The Mission Critical Open Platform (MCOP) collaborative project, driven by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), aims to meet the challenges of the emerging and complex MCPTT ecosystem. The project, set to complete by mid-2019, will define, develop and validate an open platform that identifies neat interfaces between the different technologies and reduce the integration efforts.

• Promote global open standards which include digital LMR standard TETRA and DMR, P25 and all the 3GPP/ETSI broadband and mission critical BB standards ( LTE/4G and 5G), and viable solutions to address current and future needs of mission critical radio communications users
• Support the future transition from Narrowband critical technologies into one common 3GPP standard critical broadband solution
• Facilitate development of specific voice and data applications for open standard Narrowband and Broadband technologies for the mission critical user
• Representations to the regulating bodies to secure radio frequency spectrum for digital narrowband open standard LMR  networks and mission critical Broadband
• Facilitate the exchange of information digital LMR standard TETRA and DMR, P25 and all the 3GPP/ETSI broadband and mission critical BB standards ( LTE/4G and 5G) through active marketing, workshops, exhibitions and industry presentations
• Represent regional interests in the evolution of digital LMR standard TETRA and DMR, P25 and all the 3GPP/ETSI broadband and mission critical BB standards ( LTE/4g and 5G) for professional users
• Support the TCCA and 3GPP in Australasia

• The ACCF provides local input and feedback on its updated charter to support all global open standards which continues to include digital LMR standard TETRA but now also DMR, P25 and all the 3GPP/ETSI broadband and mission critical BB standards ( LTE/4Gand 5G) through the international TCCA and ETSI
• Allows a path of communication of specific user requirements regarding desirable hardware and software features, and functionality between users and manufacturers
• Recognition as a vendor or user supporting all global open standards which include digital LMR standard TETRA but also DMR, P25 and all the 3GPP/ETSI broadband and mission critical BB standards ( LTE/4Gand 5G) and  value added applications and services meeting professional stakeholder requirements
• Facilitate information between ACCF members locally and TCCA members globally
• Access to the various TCCA worksgroups i.e Broadband Industry Group, Critical Communications Broadband Group, Technical Forum, TETRA Industry Group, Transport Group, SCADA Smartgrid and Telemetry Group, and others (see TCCA website www.tcca.info)

Join us – and help shape the future of critical communications. As a member you will join other like minded organisations globally whose success is dependent upon critical communications – you can help secure that success.