Two industry groups in the digital radio field have announced changes of name: the dPMR MoU has become the dPMR Association and the Tetra Association is now the Tetra + Critical Communications Association (TCCA).

The dPMR Association, whose activities focus on the ETSI dPMR standard for business radio, explains that the change of name reflects the growth of its membership over the years. Established in 2007 as a forum for parties wishing to support very narrow band (6·25?kHz) and digital FDMA-based radio technologies, the group currently includes 14 members.

They range from radio manufacturers, chip manufacturers, protocol and software developers to systems developers.

For the Tetra + Critical Communications Association, its new identity signals wider aims as Tetra system users begin to show interest in adding broadband wireless capability to their communications resources.

The association’s chairman, Phil Godfrey, said: “The board of the Tetra Association has decided that it is appropriate for us to broaden the scope of the association so that it is not just looking at Tetra voice and Tetra data services but is able to look forward to other, emerging technologies. Mobile broadband is probably the most important one of those in the short term.”

But he added: “We don’t see anything on the horizon that is likely to replace Tetra, or indeed TEDS critical data, for at least 10 years. And therefore we will continue to do all the same things that we are currently doing – in particular, supporting the IOP [interoperability] process, continuing to run Tetra events and all the activities that we currently do. What we’re simply going to do is to expand our activities and look at other solutions that will enhance Tetra’s capabilities.”

• www.dpmrassociation.org
• www.tandcca.com