TETRA Standard Unites Europe on Paper, Not in Practice
Frank Buddrus, Vice President of BDBOS, addresses cross-border interoperability gaps, network resilience, financing progress, and coordination with the Bundeswehr.
Speaking to German publication Behörden Spiegel at the European Police Congress, Frank Buddrus addresses cross-border interoperability gaps, network resilience, financing progress, and coordination with the Bundeswehr.
Frank Buddrus, Vice President of BDBOS (the German Federal Agency for Public Safety Digital Radio), gave an interview to Behörden Spiegel at the European Police Congress, addressing several of the most pressing issues currently facing Germany's public safety communications network.
On the subject of cross-border radio interoperability, Buddrus explained that while the technical barriers are, in principle, minimal, practical obstacles remain significant. Germany operates TETRA, the same standard used by the majority of its European neighbours, with only a small number of exceptions such as Tetrapol, a system that sounds similar but is not compatible. Even among TETRA-based networks, however, seamless cross-border communication does not currently exist. Buddrus noted that establishing a formal interface between national networks requires financial investment as well as ongoing administration, and that with few exceptions, European countries have not made this commitment. As a result, cross-border cooperation today relies on individual workarounds, such as loaned equipment or improvised patch solutions, rather than a structured, interoperable framework.
Addressing questions of network security, Buddrus described a layered approach to protecting Germany's digital radio infrastructure against both physical sabotage and cyberattacks. While declining to disclose specific technical details, he outlined that access to critical infrastructure is controlled through sophisticated mechanisms including video surveillance and identity verification, with personnel undergoing security clearance in most cases. Core network components are built with double, triple, or even quadruple redundancy, allowing automatic failover in the event of component failure or sabotage. He further noted that large parts of the network remain deliberately isolated from the internet, significantly limiting external attack vectors. These measures, Boedroes said, were developed in close cooperation with Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and represent a substantial and continuing financial investment.
Turning to the topic of financing, Buddrus reflected on comments he made a year earlier, when he identified secured funding as one of the greatest obstacles to network modernisation. He struck a notably more confident tone in this interview, describing meaningful progress in discussions between federal and state stakeholders over the past year. Buddrus expressed strong confidence that the necessary coordination would be finalised and formal resolutions passed within the current year, paving the way for both the resolution of outstanding financing questions and the initiation of subsequent implementation steps.
On the question of military coordination amid a deteriorating geopolitical climate, Buddrus clarified the nature of prioritisation within Germany's digital radio network. He explained that the network does not prioritise between user groups, but rather between types of service — group calls (push-to-talk) are prioritised over voice calls or data transmission when capacity is constrained. Decisions on managing capacity during high-demand situations are made jointly between federal and state authorities through established operational processes. Buddrus noted that Bundeswehr personnel using BDBOS's network are integrated into these same processes, while the Bundeswehr's separate, dedicated digital radio system currently operates without a direct connection to the BDBOS network. He indicated that discussions and joint exercises between the two organisations are ongoing, and that questions of cooperation — rather than prioritisation — are expected to be the focus going forward.
