CCW as the hub for mission-critical communications: Focus on standards, technologies and user strategies

Introduction

Critical Communications World (CCW) in Brussels is one of the most important annual industry gatherings for public authorities, emergency services, utilities and technology manufacturers operating in the field of critical communications.

From 18 to 20 June 2025, decision-makers, technology specialists and standardisation bodies from around the world will come together to discuss future trends, regulatory frameworks and the latest product innovations. The focus will be on two overarching topics: the harmonisation of international certification standards for broadband-based mission-critical services and the presentation of groundbreaking technologies from manufacturers such as Motorola Solutions and Tait Communications. In addition, operator organisations such as the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) will use the CCW to present their strategic plans for building resilient public safety networks.

Harmonisation of mission-critical certification: how TCCA and GCF are working together to establish international standards

At a time when emergency services are becoming increasingly networked and cross-border cooperation is becoming the norm, reliable communication is essential. The TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA) and the Global Certification Forum (GCF) have therefore launched the joint ‘Mission Critical Services Work Stream’. The aim is to establish a globally recognised certification programme for broadband-based mission-critical solutions in accordance with 3GPP standards, thereby ensuring interoperability, reliability and quality.

Lars Nielsen, Secretary General of GCF, has seen a sharp increase in the number of mission-critical operators joining the forum – growth that far exceeds the original projections. At the same time, more and more test equipment manufacturers are investing in the definition and implementation of standardised test procedures. Kevin Graham, CEO of TCCA, estimates the number of mission-critical terminals in use worldwide at around 100 million. Although this market is relatively small compared to the consumer sector, it is an independent economic force with specific requirements in terms of robustness and certifiability.

Most new GCF members already have over 25 years of experience in operating narrowband TETRA networks and are familiar with the advantages of an established certification system. However, with the transition to LTE and 5G as the basis for mission-critical broadband services, it is essential that these new technologies also deliver the same reliability. GCF membership sends a clear signal to manufacturers and integrators: only certified products will be accepted in international tenders in future. This not only promotes nationally defined application scenarios, but also facilitates joint large-scale operations and disaster relief missions in which different countries need to link their communications infrastructure.

The CCW acts as a central platform for this cooperative certification approach. Operators from Europe, North America, Asia and other regions meet in Brussels with manufacturers, test houses and representatives of standardisation bodies. In workshops, specialist presentations and round-table discussions, the current certification requirements are discussed, feedback from pilot projects is gathered and new interested parties for the GCF programme are recruited. The advantages of a uniform testing process – from accelerating market launch to reducing testing costs – are just as much a focus as the concrete definition of minimum technical requirements.

Several operators from Northern and Western Europe are currently about to join the GCF. Organisations from Eastern Europe, North America and Southeast Asia have also signalled their interest. One example of the practical benefits of this harmonisation is the planned networking of the Danish and German border police: instead of relying on private mobile devices, emergency services will be able to communicate in groups via a shared, certified mission-critical broadband network. This will not only increase efficiency but also strengthen operational security during cross-border operations.

Motorola Solutions: Reorientation of emergency communications – demo of the integrated P25, TETRA, DMR and broadband platform

Motorola Solutions is using CCW 2025 to demonstrate its innovative strength together with users and partners from around the world. The focus is on the MissionCritical solution implemented nationwide in Brazil, which links P25, TETRA and DMR land mobile radio systems with innovative Push-to-X services (MCX) on a broadband basis. This integration platform not only enables uninterrupted voice communication, but also high-definition video streaming and the exchange of multimedia information between police, military and emergency services.

Another highlight of the trade fair is the new DIMETRA X Core software version. With the Eco Mode function, the system automatically adjusts the transmission power of the TETRA base stations as soon as the network is only lightly utilised, thus saving a considerable amount of energy. DIMETRA Connect extends the solution with the ability to seamlessly switch radios between TETRA and LTE/5G networks to guarantee uninterrupted communication even during network congestion.

The Motorola stand is divided into three themed areas that reflect the current needs of public safety:

• Informed Responder: Bodycams, radios and AI-enabled mobile applications merge into a connected platform. A single push of a button on the radio activates live transmission of bodycam images to the control centre and simultaneously triggers an emergency call – for a complete real-time overview of the situation.
• Secured Environments: Automated threat detection, access control and synchronised alarm forwarding secure industrial facilities, airports, seaports and national borders. The technology provides a comprehensive security overview and supports emergency services in quickly averting danger.
• Unified communications: The combination of classic LMR systems and modern MCX services guarantees uninterrupted voice and data communication during large-scale incidents and disaster drills. A uniform user interface in control centres and for emergency services minimises response times and avoids media breaks.

Motorola Solutions is already putting its concepts into practice in Europe: the police in Ghent, Belgium, are equipping their officers with LTE-enabled V500 bodycams to ensure improved situation assessment during the numerous summer festivals. In addition, the company is presenting the M500E In-Car Video System, a compact vehicle solution that can be optimally integrated into European emergency vehicles. In combination with the SmartControlApp, officers can view and tag video sequences directly in the vehicle and transmit them to the control centre – a considerable simplification in terms of evidence preservation and mission documentation.

Tait Communications: Robust PMR and broadband solutions – ‘Tait Tough’ and the next generation of networked mission-critical devices

Under the motto ‘Tait Tough’, Tait Communications will be demonstrating its market-leading PMR radios and associated infrastructure at CCW 2025, which can withstand even extreme climatic conditions, shocks and long operating times. The company combines this robust basic technology with modern broadband solutions to offer a holistic communications ecosystem for emergency services.

New to the portfolio is the mView Body-Worn Camera, a camera worn on the body that transmits live images and HD recordings directly to control centres. This allows incident commanders to assess the situation in real time from the perspective of the personnel on the ground. Another highlight is a compact in-car video surveillance system that enables seamless video recording in emergency vehicles. Together with the digital evidence management platform, all recordings can be securely stored, managed and transferred to investigating authorities in a legally compliant manner.

A special focus is on the Handsfree Group R5 In-Vehicle Command Device, which combines PMR connectivity, 4G/5G mobile communications, video transmission and applications in a single platform. This solution allows vehicle occupants to use voice and data services without taking their hands off the wheel – an important safety factor in vehicle operation.

Tait Communications will also be represented in the conference programme with specialist presentations. Jamie Bishop, Director of Business Solutions, will join Thomas Brewster from Transport for London to discuss optimising operational capability and efficiency in public authorities and transport companies. Last but not least, Tait has been nominated as a finalist in two categories for the ICCA Awards 2025, underscoring the company’s innovative strength and industry relevance.

Strategic memberships: DSB joins GCF Development of a public safety broadband network in Norway

Parallel to the product presentation, the strategic expansion of the GCF membership base also plays an important role at CCW. The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) recently joined the GCF as an operator of mission-critical communications services – the fourth European organisation after Belgium’s ASTRID, Finland’s Erillisverkot and Sweden’s MSB.

Eline Paxal, Head of the Emergency Communications Department at DSB, explains the motivation: Following the gradual decommissioning of the nationwide TETRA system Nødnett, Norway plans to build a new broadband-based public safety network. GCF membership will ensure that all products and services used are certified according to internationally recognised standards and are interoperable. GCF CEO Lars Nielsen welcomes the new membership and emphasises that mission-critical certification is gaining momentum in Europe. TCCA board member Nina Myren praises the long-standing cooperation between the two associations and calls on other operators to become MCCOperator members.

A new generation in safety-critical communications:

Innovation meets reliability

Communications in safety-critical environments – from police and rescue operations to crisis management teams and industrial hazard prevention – are on the verge of a technological quantum leap. This change is being driven by young engineers whose expertise goes far beyond traditional radio protocols and who are familiar with cloud architectures, microservices and artificial intelligence (AI). Using practical examples from Actica Consulting, Frequentis, Leonardo and Airbus, we analyse how API-supported data pipelines, CloudFirst test frameworks, automated CI/CD test processes and DigitalTwin models make the operation of mission-critical communication systems more efficient and reliable.

Aaron Page from Actica Consulting uses modern REST and GraphQL APIs to integrate data from enterprise social networks (ESN) into a distributed microservice architecture. With Kafka-based stream processing and Elasticsearch clusters, he implements a latency-optimised pipeline that processes operational metrics in less than 200 milliseconds and enables visualisations in Kibana. By using container orchestration with Kubernetes and service meshes such as Istio, changes to the infrastructure can be distributed dynamically without interrupting ongoing operations. This approach complements traditional end-to-end testing with agile canary deployments, in which features are rolled out gradually in production environments and validated using metrics such as P99 latency and error rate.

At Frequentis, Merve Bayram initiated the complete migration of software validation to a cloud-native environment based on AWS Lambda and Azure DevOps. Instead of monolithic hardware test racks, orchestrated containers in EKS and AKS are used to replicate simulated communication networks using software-defined radio (SDR). Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) allows complete testbed topologies with virtual EPC and MCX components to be set up in less than five minutes. This flexibility reduced the average test time by 60 percent and enabled load tests with up to 10,000 simultaneous virtual end devices, which would have been virtually impossible to achieve physically.

Leonardo relies on close integration of CI/CD and model-based testing methods for test automation. Veronica Pecchioli implemented Jenkins pipelines that automatically run unit tests, integration tests and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) scenarios. The test cases are generated from UML statecharts and executed with Python scripts, while dedicated FPGA test platforms ensure protocol compliance with TETRA, P25 and LTEMCX. The test results are fed into an Elastic Stack-based monitoring system that uses machine learning algorithms to detect anomalous outliers and automatically triggers alarms when defined thresholds are exceeded.

Airbus meets regulatory challenges with a multilateral governance framework that integrates risk assessments in accordance with ISO 27001 and IEC 62443. Markus Säynevirta explains that legislative changes in mission-critical areas often have to be implemented by orchestrating complex stakeholder groups. Thanks to a digitalised change management process in ServiceNow, compliance documents are stored in an audit-proof manner, while automated workflow triggers ensure that every new software version undergoes at least three independent reviews and load tests under real signal conditions before release.

A cross-cutting trend is the use of digital twin models that virtually map physical infrastructures such as radio cells, base stations and control centres. Within data labs, Python- or R-based analyses examine telemetry data for anomalies in signal strength, bandwidth usage and error rates. Predictive maintenance algorithms use historical sensor data to forecast antenna system failures and plan preventive maintenance. This data-driven control increases system availability and allows new releases to be rolled out without unplanned downtime.

Structured knowledge management processes are essential to ensure that this technical innovation potential does not go to waste. Regular workshops in CI/CD pipelines, SecurityByDesign training and mentoring in tools such as GitLab, JFrog Artifactory and Helm ensure knowledge transfer between experienced specialists and young talent. Platforms such as Critical Communications World provide a framework for discussing these best practices across industries and putting them to the test in a regulated environment. The convergence of API integration, cloud-first testing strategies, automated validation processes and digital twin analytics creates an agile ecosystem for mission-critical communications. The technological edge of the younger generation makes it possible to integrate innovations into ongoing operations in a controlled manner while strictly adhering to regulatory and security requirements. In the coming years, the consistent use of containerisation, machine learning and model-based methods will not only increase efficiency but also set new standards for availability, scalability and security.

Conclusion

Critical Communications World 2025 in Brussels makes it clear that only an integrative approach that takes standards, technology and operator strategies into account in equal measure can create the basis for robust, interoperable and future-proof emergency communications.

With the joint certification initiative by TCCA and GCF, the technological highlights from Motorola Solutions and Tait Communications, and the commitment of organisations such as DSB, the global mission-critical ecosystem is gaining substance. This sets the course for continuing to meet the complex requirements of modern rescue, security and utility services in the future – across borders, energy-efficiently and, above all, reliably.