TETRA  |  2019-05-28

Lotos Petrobaltic Joins Energa Operator on TETRA Communications Network

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

The TETRA service, which will be used by Lotos Petrobaltic, is atypical due to its use at sea. The conducted tests proved that the TETRA system built by Energa Operator worked well at sea.

On 21 May 2019, representatives of Lotos Petrobaltic and Energa signed an agreement on the provision of TETRA services. The agreement consists of TETRA voice communication services in group- and individual mode, location services as well as transmission of short data messages.

The TETRA service, which will be used by Lotos Petrobaltic, is atypical due to its use at sea. The conducted tests proved that the TETRA system built by Energa Operator worked well at sea.

The contract signed with Lotos Petrobaltic will allow a wide variety or organizations to use TETRA service on vessels, platforms and at the company headquarters on land. In the future, Lotos Petrobaltic will be able to connect directly with other companies of Grupa Lotos as well as with port services.

Tomasz Lesiewicz, President of the Board Enspirion spółka z o.o. - In crisis situations, reliable connectivity is a key issue not only for the energy sector but also for the public security sector. In the next stages of project development, we will look for partners and clients for whom reliable connectivity is crucial in everyday work or service as well as during crisis situations. Providing TETRA communications service is an example of rational resource management. This is particularly important as the development of this type of network consumes considerable resources, and Poland is currently the only country in Europe that does not have a nationwide critical communication network. We intend to significantly expand the range of our service in a short time.

 

The TETRA system was tested at sea by Lotos Petrobaltic, a company of the Lotos Group, carrying out oil and gas extraction works in the Baltic Sea. As part of the tests, two vessels ATHS Basalt and PSV Silur were equipped with radios allowing for constant communication with the dispatcher on land.

The system will be installed on platforms and four ships servicing platforms. This type of marine installations will also be able to handle energy projects such as offshore wind farms.

The system meets the conditions of critical communications, which include among others power up for 36 hours including network encryption.

The critical communication system has already been tested, among others by the Maritime Search and Rescue Service SAR and State Emergency Medical Services (including in the Pomeranian Voivodship). The SAR assessed the coverage and quality of connections in the TETRA system as very good. In the future, rescuers will be able to establish contact with other services such as the Police or emergency medical services.