Melbourne Metropolitan Mobile Radio Project

[grant]

This information has come direct from the Melbourne Metroscan website

"It was announced today (Monday March 15) that Motorola have been awarded the Metropolitan Mobile Radio project that covers VICPOL, MAS & MFESB.

The Police & Emergency Services Minister quoted as saying it will make
it 'more difficult' for members of the public to monitor the services

More details when the press releases are out."

It is understood that the new system will be APCO-25 Digital Trunking

Grant

[grant]

Further details about the proposed system can be found on

http://www.best.vic.gov.au/


Grant

[Thunderbolt]

I wonder if this system will be identical to the Project 25 SmartZone, OmniLink systems we have here in the USA? Did they mention what radio band this system will use?


73's

Ron

[scannsw]

I wonder what type of system as well, but the minister has stated that it will run encryption, and be ready before the 2006 commonwealth games.
If you go by the track record of other states, it might be longer yet. NSW has been waiting to go fully digital now for 5 years (and counting)

Dave

[scannsw]

I wonder what type of system as well, but the minister has stated that it will run encryption, and be ready before the 2006 commonwealth games.
If you go by the track record of other states, it might be longer yet. NSW has been waiting to go fully digital now for 5 years (and counting)

Dave

[grant]

http://www.best.vic.gov.au/

The BEST website has now updated the status to show the following:

"In March 2004, the Victorian Government signed a contract worth $120M (about US$ 89 million ..net present value) with Motorola Australia. Implementation of the MMR project will begin immediately and the network will be operational by the 2006 Commonwealth Games."


What is the MMR?
The Metropolitan Mobile Radio (MMR) project will replace the current analogue radio system used by Victoria Police, Metropolitan Ambulance Service and Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board with a state of the art digital radio system.

The digital system will provide great coverage across a wider area, with less interference and better operational security.

MMR will:
* Enhance security of communications through digital encryption facilities.
* Use digital voice transmission to improve voice quality so that communication in an emergency response situation is clear and unambiguous.
* Have sufficient channel capacity and flexibility to manage the security and emergency response to major events such as the Commonwealth Games 2006 and the World Economic Forum.
* Provide interoperability between Emergency Service Organisations and common coordination channels to support multi-agency response to major incidents.
* Improve coverage to the reliable levels that are required throughout the operational area.
* Have the capacity, resilience and functionality required when the network is being operated under extreme conditions.
* Provide communications that fully support the requirements of workers in the field without compromise to the security and effectiveness of the operation or personnel safety.


grant

PS Oops on the website .....It is actually VicScan I got this information from.

[ThePhantom]

Motorola to Provide an ASTRO® 25 Emergency Services Digital Radio Network to the Victorian Government Ahead of 2006 Commonwealth Games

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA -- 18 March 2004 -- Motorola (NYSE: MOT) announced a contract to build own and operate an ASTRO® 25 advanced digital communications network for emergency services in the State of Victoria. The new Metropolitan Radio Network will provide emergency communications during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The network is expected to be built by April 2005, after which it will be operated by Motorola for a period of seven years, representing an estimated total contract value of US$151 million, including local taxes of US$14 million (A$206 million, including taxes of A$19 million) with a Victorian Government published Net Present Cost of approximately A$120 million.

The project will be managed for the State by the Bureau of Emergency Services Telecommunications. It was awarded under the Victorian Government’s “Partnerships Victoria” framework. Partnerships Victoria is a Victorian Government initiative dedicated to optimisation of the level of infrastructure spending through a responsible use of the resources of both the public and private sectors. Value for money and the public interest are keynotes of the policy.

The ASTRO® 25 solution is part of Motorola's extensive portfolio of first responder digital solutions for integrated communications, information management, regional coordination and incident command. The new system will meet the Project 25 standard for public safety and digital communications. The Project 25 Standard ensures enhanced functionality of public safety communications, equipment and capabilities, as well as effective, efficient and reliable intra-and inter-agency communications.

“Motorola has provided mission critical communications systems for more than 65 years,” said Spiros Nikolakopoulos, Managing Director of Motorola’s Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector (CGISS), Australia. “We are excited to be working on this project and look forward to serving the emergency services needs of the state and the public in Victoria.

“This pacesetting technology, based on integrated communications, information solutions and rapid mobile intelligence, will place Victoria’s emergency services on the map as leaders in law enforcement and public safety.”

The new Motorola ASTRO 25 network will:

٠ Enhance security of communications through digital encryption;
Improve portable radio coverage in difficult locations, such as tunnels and basement carparks;

٠ Improve indoor radio coverage in major buildings and shopping centres;
Improve voice quality so that communications are clearer;

٠ Provide enough channel capacity and flexibility for major events such as the
Commonwealth Games 2006 and the World Economic Forum; and

٠ Provide interoperability or direct communications among agencies to allow better coordination.

The new system is expected to be in approximately 2,300 police cars, 165 fire engines and 197 ambulances. Also, portable units are expected to be provided for approximately 3,300 police, 351 fire officers and senior staff and 468 paramedics and senior staff.

[Unitrunker]

Originally Posted by ThePhantom

Motorola to Provide an ASTRO® 25 Emergency Services Digital Radio Network to the Victorian Government Ahead of 2006 Commonwealth Games

Amazing. This is the first news I've seen of an APCO P25 system outside the United States. I wonder ... why not Tetra or MPT1327 ?

-rick

[scannsw]

I dont htink MPT1327 would suit what they want, as for instance it doesn't support encryption.
Tetra has a bit of a bad reputation in the UK and Europe, because of the interference issues with things like aircraft navigation systems for example. This would be a saftey risk, specially for the Victorian police forces helicopters.
On top of that, Motorola has a good hold on public saftey system in Australia. Most states excluding Tasmania use Motorola equipment presently, so it only makes sense they they would be in the running agian.

Dave

[ThePhantom]

TETRA also has a bad reputation in Australia, resulting from the Western Australian Police network fiasco. They basically couldn't get it to work, so in the end it was abandoned in 2002 because of insurmountable problems trying to make the network communicate with other high-tech components.

The SAGRN and NSWGRN trunking system manager, Telstra, (who is also the country's telecommunications giant) trialled TETRA in Sydney in 1998 but for whatever reason TETRA wasn't seen as a a satisfactory alternative, so they installed and operated Motorola's 9600 baud digital encryption trunking system for the 2000 Games. That network has been dismantled and the equipment sold off (to the Northern Territory govt)

I note that in the latest Mobile Radio Technology on-line Magazine (March 2004) that TETRA is not upheld in high opinion in many European Countries
http://iwce-mrt.com/ar/radio_public_safety_rethinks/
In mountainous terrain Austria's ADONIS tetra digital system has been plagued with problems.

TETRA seems to function OK in high population density flat terrain but doesn't operate well in low population density hilly terrain (which is a broad description of Australia). MPT1327 is popular locally for commercial operations but not seen as a serious technology alternative to APCO25.

P25 technology in general has a good reputation in Australia. Like all digital systems there have been problems but I suspect that a lot of it revolves around trying to operate the system with too few digital base stations in a somewhat hilly terrain (which is a good description of the general topography around Sydney). Given that the base stations are very expensive installations, most problems disappear when bucket loads of money are thrown at it ie installing extra sites. The Melbourne system should work well from the start because the city terrain is flat and there are some very high sites that give comprehensive coverage (eg Mt Dandenong and the twin Rialto Towers)

ThePhantom

[srm9030]

The system's traffic won't be ALL encrypted. That's way too expensive (/\/\ encryption modules are not too far short of a thousand bucks apiece), and getting everyone to KVL all the time would be more work than it's worth. Just making the system digital isn't going to stop anyone with a few bucks buying a P25 trunktracking scanner, either.

MPT1327 is capable of encryption. Encryption has nothing to do with the control traffic (which is sent in the clear on Moto systems), only the actual voice traffic is encrypted. If buy secure 1327 radios, such as Simoco SRM9000s with SIB boards and Transcrypt encryption modules, you're set.

[grant]

SRM

Have a read on the APCO25 forum under "APCO25 and Encryption" and you will find that Motorola have developed and introduced software encryption (as opposed to hardware encryption packages such as 128 bit DES) earlier this year that brings the cost down to about half that amount.
You might not have heard of Advanced Digital Privacy yet but essentially it stops APCO25 scanners dead in their tracks where employed. My understanding is that this system is going to be operating in Melbourne.


Grant

[srm9030]

OK. Last I heard of Moto software encryption, it was actually a LAPD-only Flashport option.

What's the bet the media in Victoria will kick up a similar stink to that ridiculous mess in Queensland?

[grant]

Confirmed system id on the new Aussie 396 (according to Melbourne local "pumper 50") for the MMR is 0164H


Grant

[Pumper_50]

CC Freq: System ID:Site Location

420.0125 0164h-0101
420.0375 0164h-0102 120 Collins Street
420.1000 0164h-0103 Arthurs Seat
422.7000 0164h-0104 Bass Hill
422.9750 0164h-0105 Briarty Hill
0164h-0106
0164h-0107
0164h-0108
420.0250 0164h-0109 Chadstone
421.8250 0164h-1110 Dandenong
420.0625 0164h-0111 Ferny Creek
420.1250 0164h-0112 Mount Beenak
0164h-0113
0164h-0114
422.3750 0164h-0115 Mt Eliza
0164h-0116
0164h-0117
420.1375 0164h-1118 Kangaroo Ground
420.3750 0164h-0119 Either Kinglake or Pheasant Creek??
420.6875 0164h-0120
0164h-0121
0164h-0122
0164h-0123
420.0875 0164h-0124
0164h-0125
0164h-0126
420.0500 0164h-0127
421.8375 0164h-0128 Mt Blackwood
420.7250 0164h-0129 Mt Cottrell
0164h-0130
0164h-0131
0164h-0132
0164h-0133
421.5375 0164h-0134 Sunbury
0164h-0135
0164h-0136
0164h-0137
422.7375 0164h-0138
0164h-0139
421.5500 0164h-0140
0164h-0141
0164h-0142
0164h-0143
0164h-0144
0164h-0145
0164h-0146
0164h-0147
0164h-0148
421.4375 0164h-0149 Cheltenham
0164h-0150
421.6500 0164h-0151 Tullamarine
0164h-0152
422.6500 0164h-0153 Doncaster
0164h-0154
0164h-0155
418.1125 0164h-0156 Laverton
422.0750 0164h-0157 Werribee
422.4250 0164h-0158 Campbellfield
421.7000 0164h-0159 Deer Park
0164h-0160
420.3875 0164h-0161
0164h-0162
0164h-0163
0164h-0164
421.3875 0164h-0165 Keilor
0164h-0166
421.4000 0164h-0167 Carrum

[Pumper_50]

First off, apologies for the above post, hit reply when I was halfway thorugh doing what I was doing. (Bugger!)

Whilst no-where near complete it does start to give somewhat of an overview to the system. You'll have to exscuse the layout. It's a little rough. Myself and a few others are slowly putting together the Sys ID locations.

All Police transmissions are encrypted.
All Fire transmission are NOT encrypted, however Executive and Senior Officers have a few encrypted channels avaible to them for multi-agency events so as to allow Police & delegated Senior Fire Officers to have secure comms.

CC Freq: System ID: Site Location

420.0125 0164h-0101
420.0375 0164h-0102 120 Collins Street
420.1000 0164h-0103 Arthurs Seat
422.7000 0164h-0104 Bass Hill
422.9750 0164h-0105 Briarty Hill
0164h-0106
0164h-0107
0164h-0108
420.0250 0164h-0109 Chadstone
421.8250 0164h-1110 Dandenong
420.0625 0164h-0111 Ferny Creek
420.1250 0164h-0112 Mount Beenak
0164h-0113
0164h-0114
422.3750 0164h-0115 Mt Eliza
0164h-0116
0164h-0117
420.1375 0164h-1118 Kangaroo Ground
420.3750 0164h-0119 Either Kinglake or Pheasant Creek??
420.6875 0164h-0120
0164h-0121
0164h-0122
0164h-0123
420.0875 0164h-0124
0164h-0125
0164h-0126
420.0500 0164h-0127
421.8375 0164h-0128 Mt Blackwood
420.7250 0164h-0129 Mt Cottrell
0164h-0130
0164h-0131
0164h-0132
0164h-0133
421.5375 0164h-0134 Sunbury
0164h-0135
0164h-0136
0164h-0137
422.7375 0164h-0138
0164h-0139
421.5500 0164h-0140
0164h-0141
0164h-0142
0164h-0143
0164h-0144
0164h-0145
0164h-0146
0164h-0147
0164h-0148
421.4375 0164h-0149 Cheltenham
0164h-0150
421.6500 0164h-0151 Tullamarine
0164h-0152
422.6500 0164h-0153 Doncaster
0164h-0154
0164h-0155
418.1125 0164h-0155 Laverton
422.0750 0164h-0157 Werribee
422.4250 0164h-0158 Campbellfield
421.7000 0164h-0159 Deer Park
0164h-0160
420.3875 0164h-0161
0164h-0162
0164h-0163
0164h-0164
421.3875 0164h-0165 Keilor
0164h-0166
421.4000 0164h-0167 Carrum

Victoria Police TGID’s (Encrypted) noted:
101 102 103 104 105 106 107 109 111 112 113 115 116 120 128 129 130
201 202 203 204 205 211 228 229 230
301 302 303 304 305 329 330
401 402 403 404 405 411 412 429 430
501 502 503 504 505 530
601 602 603 604 606 607 608 610 612 619
701 702 703 704 706 710 723 724
1125
1202 1204 1212
1304 1305 1312 1313 1314 1316 1321 1323 1324 1325 1330 1331 1332
1501 1502 1506
1701

VICPOL MMR Operational Talk Groups (Channels)
Region 1
01-01 Region 1 Division 1
01-02 Region 1 Division 2
01-03 Region 1 Division 3
01-04 Region 1 Division 4

01-06 Region 1 Event #01
01-07 Region 1 Event #02
01-08 Region 1 Event #03
01-09 Region 1 Event #04
01-10 Region 1 Event #05

01-11 Region 1 Division 1 Alternate
01-12 Region 1 Division 2 Alternate
01-13 Region 1 Division 3 Alternate
01-14 Region 1 Division 4 Alternate

01-16 Region 1 Event #06
01-17 Region 1 Event #07
01-18 Region 1 Event #08
01-19 Region 1 Event #09
01-20 Region 1 Event #10

01-21 MCG #1
01-22 MCG #2

Region 2
02-01 Region 2 Division 1
02-02 Region 2 Division 2

02-06 Region 2 Event #01
02-07 Region 2 Event #02
02-08 Region 2 Event #03
02-09 Region 2 Event #04
02-10 Region 2 Event #05

02-11 Region 2 Division 1 Alternate
02-12 Region 2 Division 2 Alternate

02-16 Region 2 Event #06
02-17 Region 2 Event #07
02-18 Region 2 Event #08
02-19 Region 2 Event #09
02-20 Region 2 Event #10

Region 3
03-01 Region 3 Division 1
03-02 Region 3 Division 2

03-06 Region 3 Event #01
03-07 Region 3 Event #02
03-08 Region 3 Event #03
03-09 Region 3 Event #04
03-10 Region 3 Event #05

03-11 Region 3 Division 1 Alternate
03-12 Region 3 Division 2 Alternate

03-16 Region 3 Event #06
03-17 Region 3 Event #07
03-18 Region 3 Event #08
03-19 Region 3 Event #09
03-20 Region 3 Event #10

Region 4
04-01 Region 4 Division 1
04-02 Region 4 Division 2
04-03 Region 4 Division 3

04-06 Region 4 Event #01
04-07 Region 4 Event #02
04-08 Region 4 Event #03
04-09 Region 4 Event #04
04-10 Region 4 Event #05

04-11 Region 4 Division 1 Alternate
04-12 Region 4 Division 2 Alternate
04-13 Region 4 Division 3 Alternate

04-16 Region 4 Event #06
04-17 Region 4 Event #07
04-18 Region 4 Event #08
04-19 Region 4 Event #09
04-20 Region 4 Event #10

Region 5
05-01 Region 5 Division 1
05-02 Region 5 Division 2

05-06 Region 5 Event #01
05-07 Region 5 Event #05
05-08 Region 5 Event #03
05-09 Region 5 Event #04
05-10 Region 5 Event #05

05-11 Region 5 Division 1 Alternate
05-12 Region 5 Division 2 Alternate

05-16 Region 5 Event #06
05-17 Region 5 Event #07
05-18 Region 5 Event #08
05-19 Region 5 Event #09
05-20 Region 5 Event #10

Commonwealth Games - Removal Pending
06-01 Commonwealth Games #1
06-02 Commonwealth Games #2
06-03 Commonwealth Games #3
06-04 Commonwealth Games #4
06-05 Commonwealth Games #5
06-06 Commonwealth Games #6
06-07 Commonwealth Games #7
06-08 Commonwealth Games #8
06-09 Commonwealth Games #9
06-10 Commonwealth Games #10
06-11 Commonwealth Games #11
06-12 Commonwealth Games #12
06-13 Commonwealth Games #13
06-14 Commonwealth Games #14
06-15 Commonwealth Games #15
06-16 Commonwealth Games #16
06-17 Commonwealth Games #17
06-18 Commonwealth Games #18
06-19 Commonwealth Games #19
06-20 Commonwealth Games #20
06-21 Commonwealth Games #21
06-22 Commonwealth Games #22
06-23 Commonwealth Games #23
06-24 Commonwealth Games #24
06-25 Commonwealth Games #25
06-26 Commonwealth Games #26
06-27 Commonwealth Games #27
06-28 Commonwealth Games #28
06-29 Commonwealth Games #29
06-30 Commonwealth Games #30
06-31 Commonwealth Games #31

TAC Channels
07-01 TAC #01
07-02 TAC #02
07-03 TAC #03
07-04 TAC #04
07-05 TAC #05
07-06 TAC #06
07-07 TAC #07
07-08 TAC #08
07-09 TAC #09
07-10 TAC #10
07-11 TAC #11
07-12 TAC #12
07-13 TAC #13
07-14 TAC #14
07-15 TAC #15

Analog Channels
10-xx Analog Channels

Inter Agency
11-08 Inter-Agency #A
11-09 Inter-Agency #B
11-10 Inter-Agnecy #C

MFESB MMR Operational Talk Groups (Channels)


TGID Channel Use Radio Label
ID 10000 Channel 01 Central Zone CENT 1
ID 10001 Channel 02 Northern Zone NORTH 1
ID 10002 Channel 03 Southern Zone SOUTH 1
ID 10003 Channel 04 Western Zone WEST 1
ID 10004 Channel 05 Broadcast ALT1 5
ID 10013 Channel 06 Operational Support #1 OPSUP1 6
ID 10014 Channel 07 Operational Support #2 OPSUP2 7
ID 10015 Channel 08 Operational Support #3 OPSUP3 8
ID ????? Channel 09 Fireground #1 F/G1 9
ID ????? Channel 10 Fireground #2 F/G2 10
ID ????? Channel 11 Ambulance Service #3 MAS3 11
ID ????? Channel 12 Ambulance Service #5 MAS5 12
ID ????? Channel 13 Ambulance Service #9 MAS9 13
ID ????? Channel 14 Ambulance Service #13 MAS13 14
ID ????? Channel 15 Ambulance Service #1 MAS1 15
ID ????? Channel 16 Ambulance Service #95 MAS95 16
ID ????? Channel 17 Ambulance Service #East MAS E 17
ID ????? Channel 18 Ambulance Service #West MAS W 18
ID ????? Channel 19 Ambulance Service #South MAS S 19
ID ????? Channel 20 Ambulance Service #Clinician MASCL 20
ID ????? Channel 21
ID ????? Channel 22 Fireground #1
ID ????? Channel 23 Fireground #2
ID ????? Channel 24 Fireground #3
ID ????? Channel 25 Fireground #4
ID ????? Channel 26 Fireground #5
ID ????? Channel 27 Senior Commander #1
ID ????? Channel 28 Senior Commander #2
ID ????? Channel 29 Senior Commander #3
ID ????? Channel 30 Special Operations #1
ID ????? Channel 31 Special Operations #2
ID????? Channel 32 Special Operations #3
ID ????? Channel 33
ID10019 Channel 34 Training #1 TRN1 34
ID10020 Channel 35 Training #2 TRN2 35
ID10021 Channel 36 Training #3 TRN3 36
ID ????? Channel 37
ID ????? Channel 38
ID ????? Channel 39
ID ????? Channel 40
ID ????? Channel 41
ID????? Channel 42 Exercise #1
ID????? Channel 43 ???????? #1 TASK1 43
ID????? Channel 44 ???????? #2 TASK2 44
ID????? Channel 45 ???????? #3 TASK3 45
ID????? Channel 46
ID????? Channel 47
ID????? Channel 48 Alternate #2 ALT2 48
ID????? Channel 49 Alternate #3 ALT3 49
ID????? Channel 50 Alternate #4 ALT4 50
ID????? Channel 51 Alternate #5 ALT5 51
ID????? Channel 52 Alternate #6 ALT6 52
ID????? Channel 53 Alternate #7 ALT7 53

ID10035 Channel ?? ????????

Motorola Technicians:
65000 (Non-encrypted but capability exists and used on occasion.)
65040 (Non-encrypted but capability exists and used on occasion.)
65042 (Non-encrypted but capability exists and used on occasion.)
65044 (Non-encrypted but capability exists and used on occasion.)

Radio Label tags in MFB Radios (at present)
CENT 1
NORTH 2
SOUTH 3
WEST 4
ALT1 5
OPSUP1 6
OPSUP2 7
OPSUP3 8
F/G1 9
F/G2 10
MAS3 11
MAS5 12
MAS9 13
MAS13 14
MAS1 15
MAS95 16
MAS E 17
MAS W 18
MAS S 19
MASCL 20
CMD1 22
CMD2 23
CMD3 24
SPEC1 25
SPEC2 26
SPEC3 27
IMT1 28
IMT2 29
IMT3 30
MAEV1 31
MAEV2 32
MAEV3 33
TRN1 34
TRN2 35
TRN3 36
EXC1 37
EXC2 38
EXC3 39
TECH1 40
TECH2 41
TECH3 42
TASK1 43
TASK2 44
TASK3 45
ALT2 48
ALT3 49
ALT4 50
ALT5 51
ALT6 52
ALT7 53

[richardc63]

Dave,

The Melbourne MMR system is P25.

The NSW GRN is going full digital... SPC are doing the linking as we speak and that is no small job with 100+ sites to do. The timetable I believe is less than 2 years to have all sites digital & operational, though some agencies may not have changed over their analog radios by then. I would be willing to wager within 2 years there will be no analog GRN sites in NSW.

Incidentally, there is still no committment by the NSW Government to migrate to a fully compliant P25 system. At this stage it is still only going to be ASTRO (I think v4.x). Hopefully that will change... but it all comes down to $$$$...

Cheers,


Richard

Originally Posted by scannsw

I wonder what type of system as well, but the minister has stated that it will run encryption, and be ready before the 2006 commonwealth games.
If you go by the track record of other states, it might be longer yet. NSW has been waiting to go fully digital now for 5 years (and counting)

Dave

[DenisM]

1 By far the largest public safety systems in western Europe are Tetra - handsets by Motorola, Sepura and Nokia (the latter now owned and managed by EADS). The major exception being the French system which is Tetrapol (maybe because EADS is predominantly French)

2 In eastern Europe there is a lot of Tetrapol

3 Tetra is making big in-roads in Asia and South-east Asia

4 One wonders why, if Tetra is so poor, that the largest supplier of Tetra systems and equipment is Motorola and, further, why the new Motorola wide area trunking system for commercial users in eastern Australia is a Tetra system?

[richardc63]

Originally Posted by DenisM

1 By far the largest public safety systems in western Europe are Tetra - handsets by Motorola, Sepura and Nokia (the latter now owned and managed by EADS). The major exception being the French system which is Tetrapol (maybe because EADS is predominantly French)

2 In eastern Europe there is a lot of Tetrapol

3 Tetra is making big in-roads in Asia and South-east Asia

4 One wonders why, if Tetra is so poor, that the largest supplier of Tetra systems and equipment is Motorola and, further, why the new Motorola wide area trunking system for commercial users in eastern Australia is a Tetra system?

Denis,

Who said TETRA is "so poor"? I think it is brilliant & so do many other emergency service engineering types but no matter how good it is it isn't going to be selected.

Why?

We can't afford it.

And you need to acknowledge why those asian countries are choosing TETRA... they have the population density that we don't have in Australia. To cover NSW using TETRA would be hideously expensive and with no tetra radios capable of dual conventional/tetra operation we would have to run dual fleets of radios.

I've played with the tetra radios (the sepuras) & yes they are superb radios but they don't meet our needs.

APCO does. An APCO network will be significantly cheaper & better suited to rural areas.

Sorry, but I think TETRA will have a very limited market in Australia.

Cheers,


Richard

ps. Motorola's roll-out of TETRA is a VERY limited network in Sydney, Melbourne & the Gold Coast. Have you counted the sites they need? They are targeting the high end commercial radio users I understand (freight forwarders etc). Good luck to the Big M... they are taking a big gamble (maybe not as big as Iridium.... ouch).

[grant]

Found this on the Motorola Website concerning the Australia "Zeon" TETRA Digital system in pdf format, including operating specifications, Sydney & Melbourne coverage maps etc

http://www.motorola.com/governmentan...octype=id_140i

Grant