ICCA | Sepura’s Diana Ball Wins Critical Communications Industry Outstanding Contribution Award

Having studied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, Diana worked for Marconi, Philips Telecom and Simoco, before joining Sepura

At the International Critical Communications Awards (ICCAs) held recently in Vienna, Sepura employee Diana Ball was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Critical Communications Award, in recognition of her work in helping to define the mission critical standards trusted by TETRA users around the world.

Peter Hudson, Chief Technology Officer at Sepura, commented on Diana’s impact on Sepura and the critical communications industry: “Diana’s contribution has been absolutely fundamental to the success of Sepura but also to every single TETRA manufacturer of infrastructure and devices. The work Diana led has supported TETRA’s growth as the acknowledged standard for mission critical communications and supported Sepura’s leading role within this community”.

Sepura is one of the leading suppliers of mission critical solutions worldwide, with over 2.5 million devices currently in use with public safety and other mission critical users, from the UK to Australia.

Having studied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, Diana worked for Marconi, Philips Telecom and Simoco, before joining Sepura. She played a major role in the drafting group for the initial TETRA standards and participated in multiple European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) working groups, writing a large part of the TETRA MAC and Direct Mode protocols.

Diana’s work specified not just the device to device DMO protocol but also the extremely complex mechanisms of DMO repeaters, gateways and repeater/gateways.

Her crucial work continues today, and she is presently engaged with TETRA Working Group 4, leading on the design and writing the complex architecture for the layer 2 protocol enabling greater use of data over narrowband platforms.

Every person who uses a TETRA radio – and the extended user community beyond direct users who interact and manage with field users – has benefited from the long hours Diana put into the platform specifications. Her work has made a fundamental contribution to the maintenance and protection of the public and public safety officers and other mission critical users around the world.

This is particularly felt in the UK, where every ambulance and paramedic utilises Sepura TETRA radios to maintain communications on operation.

Her work on TETRA DMO has provided similar far-reaching benefits, ensuring that even today users can benefit from reduced operating costs and greater efficiency by employing DMO mode to maintain constant communications.

Also at the 2022 ICCA Awards, Sepura won Best MC-X Device, for the SCU3 Broadband Vehicle Device, recently upgraded to enable dual mode TETRA and LTE connectivity, and Best Use of Critical Communications in Mining for the use of the AutoMate application in a major Australian iron ore mine.

Steve Barber, CEO at Sepura, said: “The ICCA Award for Diana, and our accompanying demonstrations at the Critical Communications World exhibition demonstrate how Sepura’s team of developers and industry experts continue to lead the way in innovating new solutions for public safety. Our SCU3 Dual Mode device, alongside our trusted and proven TETRA devices, will be at the forefront of critical communications for many years to come.”