TETRA radios by Cassidian were used recently to provide secure communication for a major winter sports event in Norway.

At the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo during February and March, hundreds of radio users, including security, medical teams, transport, parking, sport teams, anti-doping teams, the jury and the organizing committee, were all connected by a common system.

Radio communication was regarded as crucial for the running of the event and, according to the Norwegian TETRA service provider TC Connect, expectations for system performance were high: 100 per cent availability and 100 per cent coverage. But Svein Magne Karlsen, information and communications technology (ICT) manager of the Oslo 2011 organizing committee, commented: “Our experience confirms that we did a right choice”.

Normally, TC Connect’s network serves around 1000 users in the Oslo area, Oslo’s metro being the largest single customer. But during the championships the number of users increased by 650.

Also connected to the system during the big event were representatives of the police, fire and ambulance services, for inter-service co-operation in case of incidents.

Most of the radios were the new THR9i model by Cassidian, a robust, weatherproof handset whose features include the Lifeguard man-down function. This provides enhanced personal safety for the user.