An unusual honour has been accorded to Hans Borgonjen, of VTS, the Dutch ICT organization for public safety: a mobile base station has been named after him.

As one of three mobile units for the C2000 TETRA public safety network in the Netherlands, it will be used to provide extra radio capacity or coverage during major public events, in disaster operations or where a normal station has been knocked out – for example, by lightning.

The three trucks, all named after personalities who have played an important role in the C2000 project, were presented to the fire organizations at the Parliament building in The Hague in September, when the keys were ceremonially handed over by vice-minister Ank Bijleveld. 

Mr Borgonjen, one of the fathers of the TETRA standard, participated in the ETSI work from the beginning. As the Schengen negotiator to NATO, he secured the harmonized frequency band 380–400 MHz for public safety use in Europe. He has been a board member of the TETRA Association from the start and he also chairs the PSRG (Public Safety Radiocommunication Group), an informal platform in which 15 countries now participate. The PSRG provides a forum in which government representatives who are responsible for radio projects can exchange information.