ASTRID launches Blue Light Mobile, an innovative broadband data service for Public Safety officers

In a society where smartphones and other mobile media have become the norm, mobile data communications have also become a necessary tool for the emergency and security services. Blue Light Mobile is a unique mobile broadband data offering that uses the three Belgian 3G networks.

The technology on which the ASTRID radio network is based (TETRA), is primarily designed for voice and light data applications. In the future, however, ASTRID expects strong growth in data applications. Therefore ASTRID has now launched a mobile broadband data service which is adapted to the specific needs of the Public Safety and emergency services.

Three networks to provide extra coverage

With Blue Light Mobile a single SIM card provides secure and priritized access to the three Belgian operators and 11 operators in the four neighboring countries. In places where the coverage of the network is too low, the network will direct the tablet or laptop user automatically to a network that offers a better coverage coverage.

ASTRID users will het priority over other users, meaning that even when data traffic is heavy, the connection is still guaranteed. On top of this, ASTRID has built in additional guarantees with regard to the network’s data security.

"With Blue Light Mobile police, fire and ambulance wil leb able to work much more efficiently," says Daniel Hache , Director of External Relations at ASTRID. "Ultimately, this means benefits society, public safety nd the safety of the service provider. Ambulance teams will have faster route to the scene of the accident and receive direct information of the patient and the police will be able to transmit photographs of missing persons quickly. The services of the emergency and security organizations will even be much better."

World first

With Blue Light Mobile ASTRID becomes in a part a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) offering services through the network of a third party . "With this formula, we are the first in the world," says Christian Mouraux, project manager of Blue Light Mobile. "We have now had a lot of foreign experts contacting us, who are interested to build a similar service. In the 1990s, ASTRID was involved at the birth of digital radio networks. With Blue Light Mobile it once again leads the way forward.”

Field Tested on difficult terrain

In recent months, Blue Light Mobile was thoroughly tested within around several police zones and fire services. The police Beveren (East Flanders ) was the first to test. The experiences were very positive so far, says Niko Lardenoit, functional and technical manager of the local police of Beveren. "Our police zone is located right on the border with the Netherlands and covers a large territory, ware we have challenges with the coverage. According to the teams on the ground the data communication via Blue Light Mobile goes even faster than using a desktop computer at the police office."

Beveren also performed tests with data from ANPR cameras (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), and searches in the police database related to football matches with heightened risks of supporter violence. "The great advantage of Blue Light Mobile is that you just work faster. You no longer need to make a call to the dispatcher, but you can search the database directly in the field. As a result, there are fewer misunderstandings. To an outsider it may not seem revolutionary news, but in some cases it can save lives andfor our staff this is a big motivating factor,” sait Lardenoit