Exclusive Interview with Peter Clemons, candidate for the upcoming TETRA + Critical Communications Board Elections.

As the annual Critical Communications World event, incorporating TETRA World Congress - to be held in Paris later this month - approaches, TETRA Applications talks to one of the TETRA and critical communications industry’s most well-known personalities, Peter Clemons, Managing Director, Quixoticity, who is also a candidate in the upcoming TCCA Board Elections, in the following exclusive interview. Here is the full text of that interview:


TETRA Applications: How did you first become involved in the critical communications industry?
Peter Clemons: I wrote my first report supporting TETRA back in 1996, long before it was a fashionable technology and just before the first TETRA solutions were installed. TETRA’s success in those days was far from certain, although contracts had been signed for public safety and public access networks and significant spectrum had been awarded in UHF frequencies.


TETRA Applications: When did you first become active within the TETRA MoU Association (now the TETRA + Critical Communications Association - TCCA)?
Peter Clemons: I became an individual member of the Association in 2001. This coincided with setting up the TETRA SME Group as its first chairman as part of my Digital Mobile Radio Initiative (DIMRI), to defend the interests of smaller suppliers and promote the multi-vendor environment and rich TETRA ecosystem that we still have today. This is perhaps the achievement I am most proud of.


TETRA Applications: How important is marketing for the professional communications industry?
Peter Clemons: The TETRA Association - now TCCA - has been very successful marketing TETRA around the world since it was formed back in 1994. Its activities have certainly been important to the success of the technology. I am proud to have been one of the original members of the Marketing Group, which is now one of the most active groups within TCCA.


TETRA Applications: What experience do you have communicating the important message about critical communications to authorities and the wider public?
Peter Clemons: I have been publishing articles about the industry for the past 17 years. I am one of the editorial advisors to the prestigious RadioResource International publication and a regular contributor to TETRA Today magazine. I was also Director of Communications for Spanish TETRA equipment manufacturer, Teltronic, for 4 years. I was amazed recently to find out that I have presented as many as 100 times at industry events around the world promoting TETRA and the importance of critical communications solutions to a wide range of end-users who rely on them to protect critical national infrastructure, property, other assets and, most importantly, the lives of millions of people.


TETRA Applications: You have already served one term on the TCCA Board.
Peter Clemons: Yes. I was elected in 2010 as Teltronic representative to the Association, becoming a Board Member and Director of the TETRA Association, as it was still called then. During my first period on the Board, we agreed to change the name of the Association to TCCA to allow us to be more forward-looking to deal with rapidly changing market conditions. I also helped set up the Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG) of which I and my company are founding members. However, I also understand the importance of continuing to promote TETRA at the core of critical communications solutions for many years to come; definitely beyond 2020. TETRA continues to evolve and is far from becoming an obsolete technology.


TETRA Applications: You have set up your own company, Quixoticity. Can you tell us more about this?
Peter Clemons: Quixoticity is a next-generation consulting company looking at new ways of seeing the world. In many ways, industry reporting has not changed very much over the past 20 years or so. I believed that new techniques are required for forecasting the evolution of dynamic communications markets in a time of rapid change and I have dedicated several years of my life to researching these, so expect some interesting developments over the coming months and years.


TETRA Applications: You also have a lot of experience developing new markets for TETRA.
Peter Clemons: Yes. I have been promoting TETRA in Latin America since 1998, when technologies such as MPT 1327 and EDACS were just becoming popular. Many people didn’t believe that TETRA could satisfy coverage requirements or be a cost effective solution for emerging markets, but we proved them wrong on both accounts. I also remember writing my first report on North America back in 1999 and am proud to have lived long enough to see TETRA networks deployed in both Canada and the USA. The Americas will be one of the real growth markets for TETRA over the next 3-5 years and beyond because of its rich voice and data features and its ability to integrate well with other complementary technologies such as LTE.


TETRA Applications: How do you see the future of the industry?
Peter Clemons: I am very positive about the future of critical communications, but we must remain vigilant and continue to fight to explain the importance of secure, reliable, always available communications solutions in times of crisis and emergency. We are moving into an increasingly dangerous, interconnected world where all communications will be critical. There is an enormous opportunity for our “old” PMR industry to show the “younger” commercial guys how to make their networks safe.


TETRA Applications: Are you looking forward to yet another annual event for the TETRA community returning under a new banner as CCW in Paris this year?
Peter Clemons: It is always interesting to meet up with colleagues to discuss the current and future state of the industry and find out what are the latest trends; innovative products and services; new industries and markets that have embraced TETRA and its complementary technologies. There are always surprises so it is important to stay updated and look ahead at least 5 years.

"It would be an honour to return to the TCCA Board and represent this wonderful industry again. I learned a lot during my first term and believe that I could do an even better job this time"