ENG_Profcomm2015

Broadband for Critical Communications

More than 200 experts in critical communications for corporations and departments and ICT regulators from all over Russia joined the 4th Federal Conference "Critical Communications Russia 2015". They met in Moscow on 25 September to discuss the prospects of broadband technologies for public security and corporate governance. The conference was organized by ComNews Group and endorsed by the Federal Communications Agency (Rossvyaz).

The platinum sponsors of CriticalComm 2015 were ZTE Corporation and Huawei. The Russian representative office of Hytera Communications became the gold sponsor. The conference was held with the participation of such companies as Nokia, Saga Telecom, MS-SPETSTELECOM and Gvardiya-Plus TLK, as well as the Omsk Research and Development Institute of Instrument Engineering.

The forum was traditionally supported by the international TETRA & Critical Communications Association, the Association of designers, manufactures and users of equipment and applications based on Global Navigation Satellite systems “GLONASS/GNSS – Forum”, the Association of Regional Telecom Operators (ARTO), the International Telecommunication Academy (ITA) and the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC). The general and branch information partner of the conference was MChS Media Publishing House. Interfax news agency acted as the media partner. The information and analytical agency TelecomDaily became the strategic media partner.

The event was opened by Mikhail Hazov, Head of Division for State Regulation of Metrology and Communication Network Maintenance at the Department of Radio Frequencies and Communication Network Regulation of Minsvyaz. Speaking on behalf of Deputy Minister Dmitry Alkhazov, he highlighted the key tasks in developing critical communications for citizens: making 112 systems grow faster in the regions of Russia and developing emergency communications systems for the largest agencies, enterprises and departments.

The plenary session continued with the speech of Aleksandr Evsin, Deputy Head and Director of the Situation Center of the Moscow Government's Traffic Management Center. Aleksandr Evsin described critical communications tasks related to the traffic control in a big city.

The nextplenary session’s speaker was Phil Kidner, CEO of TETRA & Critical Communications Association, who explained the development of professional mobile communication systems in the direction of broadband access. Tigran Pogosyan, Senior Vice President of ZTE-Communication Technologies Corporation in Russia, gave a presentation about the potential of ZTE in public security. Vladimir Konstantinov, Head of Wireless Solutions Department at Huawei, presented professional mobile radio solutions based on the new LTE standard. Pavel Pogrebinsky, Department Director of IT and Infrastructure, FIFA “Russia-2018”, spoke about the future development of professional TETRA digital radio systems at the FIFA World Cup 2018. The session ended after a presentation by Sergey Kachanov, Deputy Head of All-Russian Research Institute for Civil Defense and Emergencies of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. Sergey Kachanov explained the basic approaches to creating the hardware and software complex "Safe City".

The panel discussion about technology was dedicated to short- and medium-term prospects for professional mobile radio market development. The floor was given to Sergey Shishov, Head of Department at R&D Center for Special Wireless Communication Systems, NIIR (Radio Research and Development Institute), who described the prospects of using mobile wireless broadband technologies for the benefit of public security system. The next speaker, Yury Gorshkov, Chairman of the Board of MS-SPETSTELECOM, explained the prospects of LTE network development for PMR in Russia. Mikhail Rybachenkov, General Director of Saga Telecom, spoke about the disadvantages of the current LTE standard releases for critical communications. Aleksandr Odinsky, Chairman of the Board, Gvardiya-Plus TLK, delivered a speech about the development trends of PMR networks in the existing conditions of import substitution. An Deng, Technical Director, Hytera Communications Corporation Limited in Russia, told the audience about the tasks of the LTE standard in PMR networks, as well as their compatibility with the existing TETRA and DMR networks. Armen Narinyan, Director of Sales and Business Development, Nokia, focused on using LTE to build public safety networks, whereas Radislav Gaifulin, Commercial Director, Saga Telecom, – on the practice of building radio systems based on Motorola's DMR and TETRA equipment. Konstantin Patronov, Chief Designer of TETRA radio systems, Omsk Research and Development Institute of Instrument Engineering, spoke about import substitution for PMR in Russia. The session gave a comprehensive overview of opportunities and contradictions in shifting from narrowband to broadband PMR technologies in Russia in the next 10 years.

The last panel discussion was entitled “Departmental and corporate communication networks of key economic sectors”.The topic of video surveillance systems for the safety of people and business was explained by Natalya Abramova, Adviser to the Director for Cooperation with Government Agencies, Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS). The role played in emergencies by the telecommunications network of the Service for Disaster Medicine at the Russian Ministry of Public Health was characterized by Andrew Cilnic, Deputy Head of the Crisis Management Centre, All-Russian Centre for Disaster Medicine “Zaschita”. A speech which proved to be very interesting was related to upgrading the technical radio system at Sheremetyevo International Airport, and delivered by Chief Engineer of Sheremetyevo International Airport Igor Tsikorin. The role of telecommunications in critical processes was characterized by Mikhail Smychyok, Senior Specialist, Department for Communications Network Design, Giprogaztsentr. The presentation about the role of corporate departmental Automated Data Transfer System-MECOM by Roshydromet for fast and effective sharing of storm warnings related to the prediction of hydrometeorological hazards was made by Yury Varakin, Head of Situation Center, Roshydromet.

Most guests of the 4th Federal Conference "Critical Communications Russia 2015” admitted that the discussions were well-orchestrated and contained a lot of practical information; the same applies to the sessions and the exhibition organized during the conference.