Critical communications: what does 2018 hold?
January is a month for fresh starts, and looking to the year ahead. With this in mind what will the coming twelve months hold for the world of critical communications? Here are our key ideas…
- Published in Unified Communications
A taste of the future: what Apple can teach us about LTE
Have you got an Apple Watch yet? The third iteration of the device was recently launched – and, as outlined here, it comes with one very distinctive new feature – LTE connectivity.
The jury is still out as to whether this is a game-changing development for the Apple Watch or just a nice-to-have, and regardless of how it ends up positioning Apple in the marketplace, it’s certainly had some technical difficulties to iron out.
- Published in LTE
What do emergency services look for in a communications network?
The importance of our emergency services and the depth of their contribution to society cannot be overestimated.
Rapid response units, for the police, fire and ambulance services, all rely on a robust communications network to share information keeping their colleagues in the loop and saving lives.
In practice, this network will look very different depending on the service that is being provided, the location and the kind of emergencies they will typically be dealing with. However, Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) is one of the core communication technologies at the heart of many public safety operations.
- Published in Professional Mobile Radio
Could our utility networks be held to ransom? How legacy communication technologies are leaving critical infrastructure at risk
It seems like we’ve barely drawn breath from the Wannacry ransomware attack, which swept across the world in May, and yet already another insidious form of ransomware is wreaking international havoc. Originally assumed to be a variant of an older form of malware called Petya, the attack has crippled the computer systems at, among others, the advertiser WPP, law firm DLA Piper, food company Mondelez and Danish shipping company Maersk.
Ukraine has been particularly badly affected, with the company’s national bank, Kiev airport, metro system and a state-owned aircraft manufacturer all coming attack. Why Ukraine? According to the Ukrainian Cyber Police, the attack was originally spread via a software update in an accounting program that all organisations working with the Ukrainian government need to use.
- Published in Utilities
Testing the age of LTE
The LTE era moved a little closer this month, with the first interoperability tests for mission-critical LTE scheduled to take place at the ETSI headquarters in France.
What does this mean in practice? LTE stands for Long Term Evolution. It’s a next generation standard for mobile communications, the latest iteration of an evolution that started with the analogue 1G standard in the 1980s. LTE increases both the speed and latency of wireless communications, which in turn increases reliability, clarity and mobility, with the opportunity to add more data-rich applications to communications networks.
- Published in LTE
What the 5G future could mean for utility providers
Earlier this week, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced that the UK government will invest more than £1bn in digital infrastructure, in order to support trials for 5G mobile technology.
The current ambition of the government is for the UK to be a world leader in 5G. The next generation of mobile technology will become commonplace across the UK within the next few years, but what is 5G, and what does this revolution mean for the communications industry?
- Published in LTE
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