BDBOS Calls for Unified Approach to Next-Generation Public Safety Broadband at European Police Congress
Germany's federal agency for public safety digital radio underlines a single message in Berlin: no isolated solutions in the migration to a nationwide BOS broadband network.
Germany's Federal Agency for Public Safety Digital Radio (BDBOS) used this year's European Police Congress in Berlin to set out its position on the future of mission-critical communications, calling for a unified, cross-organisational approach to the country's next-generation broadband network for public safety users. The agency's central message throughout the event was unambiguous: no island solutions.
The European Police Congress is regarded as the leading platform for senior leadership across European police forces, bringing decision-makers together each year in Berlin to exchange views on current operational challenges and emerging technologies. BDBOS featured prominently across the programme, contributing to the BOS Strategy Forum alongside other stakeholders to discuss the trajectory of digital radio for the German public safety community and the planned transition to broadband.
In his opening keynote at the forum, BDBOS Vice-President Frank Buddrus emphasised the importance of acting in a coordinated and cross-organisational manner during the current phase of network evolution. Buddrus acknowledged the political and operational appeal of rapid deployment and lower expenditure, but warned that next-generation digital radio for the BOS community cannot be treated as experimental territory. The infrastructure, he argued, is critical enough to justify the time and investment required to deliver a holistic network that can scale in every direction to meet the needs of frontline personnel.
That position was echoed by other BDBOS representatives. Programme Director Thomas Scholle outlined the key milestones of the Broadband Programme, which is intended to implement the next generation of digital radio for German public safety users. According to Scholle, BDBOS aims to begin migration to broadband by 2030, a timeline that will depend heavily on close cooperation with the public safety authorities and organisations (BOS) that operate on the network. Nathalie Gehrke and Roman Kreibich presented several of the sub-projects underpinning the move toward the BOS broadband network.
The forum's panel session saw Scholle joined by representatives of the German federal states, leading industry manufacturers and members of the audience, with discussion focused on the practical steps required to align stakeholders behind a single national approach. Vice-President Buddrus also gave a series of interviews on the agency's strategy, while further exchanges took place at the exhibition stands of several manufacturers and at the stand of the German Police Union (Gewerkschaft der Polizei).
The overall tone of BDBOS's contributions reinforced a recurring theme in European mission-critical communications discussions: that fragmented or parallel solutions risk undermining interoperability, resilience and operational effectiveness, and that the migration from TETRA-based digital radio to broadband must be delivered as a coherent national capability rather than a patchwork of localised initiatives.
Image: Courtesy of BDBOS
