PowerTrunk Confirms That It is the First Vendor to Install a TETRA Network in the United States

Last January 5 PowerTrunk Inc. announced it installed the first TETRA land mobile radio network in United States history. The PowerTrunk TETRA pilot, hosted by New Jersey Transit (NJ TRANSIT) in Newark, went live in early November 2010 and was made public once the trials were successfully completed. All TETRA equipment used for the pilot is FCC-certified.

On January 18 Sepura Plc., a British manufacturer of TETRA subscriber equipment, issued a press release titled “Sepura, Rohde & Schwarz Professional Mobile Radio and Nielson Communications together in first TETRA demonstration project”. The release contained several misleading statements. It stated that the pilot would go live on January 19. However, on January 27 Nielson Communications informed several media sources that open demonstrations were not expected to start until March 2011. The Sepura press release also misrepresented their TETRA pilot, which they call a “demonstration project” or “showcase”, as the first in the U.S.

Vendor misrepresentations should not be allowed to distort PowerTrunk’s true and exceptional achievement. PowerTrunk is confirming its claim to be the first company to set up a live TETRA network in the United States, up and running since November 2010. While in other circumstances it may be irrelevant to claim to be the first, it is not irrelevant at all when speaking of introducing TETRA in the United States. Such an accomplishment involved overcoming innumerable challenges and barriers erected by well established entities to protect their interests in North America.

PowerTrunk holds FCC and Industry Canada type acceptance certificates for the entire TETRA equipment range offered in North America: infrastructure, handhelds and mobiles. Compliance with existing North American emission requirements was accomplished by adjusting one of the parameters which characterize the TETRA modulation. Such modification does not affect the equipment’s ability to remain fully interoperable with any other TETRA equipment in the rest of the world. Loss of performance is minor, only about 1 dB in terms of RF power, with no operational consequences.

PowerTrunk also asserts that all the existing TETRA Interoperability Profile (TIP) Certificates in the possession of its parent company Teltronic S.A.U. are applicable to the United States. PowerTrunk equipment manufactured by Teltronic passes 100 % of the TIP tests as defined by the TETRA Association and its Technical Forum. Therefore, all FCC-certified and IC-certified TETRA equipment that PowerTrunk offers for sale in North America complies fully with TIP standards.

PowerTrunk reiterates its full support for the request filed by the TETRA Association before the FCC for a waiver which would allow featuring the TETRA modulation up to its full extent in terms of RF power. Concurrently, PowerTrunk supports a process underway in Canada for a new emission mask. However, it is also PowerTrunk’s policy to work within existing regulations in both countries. The ETSI TETRA standard is flexible enough to allow an implementation which is both compliant with current emission requirements and fully interoperable (TIP compliant) at an international level. Should a waiver and/or a new emission mask be granted in the future, PowerTrunk equipment can immediately be reconfigured to feature the maximum RF power[1].

To avoid confusing the LMR public, PowerTrunk has requested that Sepura publish a retraction regarding the misrepresentations in its press release. To date Sepura has not complied. PowerTrunk has chosen to issue this release so the facts are clear about the timing of the first TETRA network installation in U.S. history.

Source: www.teltronic.es