GCF Welcomes Norwegian Critical Communications Operator DSB

GCF Certification for Broadband Mission Critical Services maintains momentum.

The Global Certification Forum (GCF) and TCCA are pleased to announce increasing support for the GCF Certification program for Broadband Mission Critical Services with 

The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) joining GCF as Mission Critical Communications Operator (MCCO). DSB reports to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in Norway. 

Eline Paxal, head of DSB's Department for Emergency Communications, commented: “We are excited about joining GCF and we are looking forward to participating as Mission Critical Communications Operator. We have initiated the work to establish a broadband public safety radio network to meet the needs of emergency and preparedness users after the phase-out of the current TETRA Nødnett. We will request that the mission critical broadband products and services are certified as standardised and interoperable. Our conclusion is that being a GCF member is important to support the ongoing work to establish necessary processes for testing and certification of mission critical products and services.” 

Lars Nielsen, GCF’s CEO, said: “GCF Certification for Broadband Mission Critical Services gains a lot of momentum in Europe, and we are pleased to welcome DSB joining GCF as a new MCCO. We are looking forward to more Mission Critical Operators and Service Providers joining the initiative, as well as increased engagement from vendors of Mission Critical Services and Devices.”  

Nina Myren, director and board member of TCCA representing DSB, emphasises the importance of building the full stack of testing and certification services for mission critical products and services. "TCCA and GCF have worked closely over the last years to establish the necessary processes for testing and certification of mission critical services. We encourage our members that are Public Safety Communications operators to request certified products, and also to become GCF MCCO members. I am very happy to see that also my organisation and our long-time member DSB has taken this step."

Four MCCOs now have joined GCF

In the last few months, ASTRID from Belgium and Erillisverkot from Finland have joined GCF, following Sweden's Myndigheten för Samhällsskydd och Beredskap (MSB) who was the first public safety organisation to become a member of the GCF as a MCCO.

MSB, ASTRID, Erillisverkot and DSB have also been participating in the Mission Critical Services Work Stream, set up by GCF and TCCA to align and speed up the market availability of certified 3GPP standards-based Mission Critical Broadband Services and Devices.