The awards – a collaboration between TETRA Today magazine and the TETRA + Critical Communications Association (TCCA) – have been designed to celebrate annually the achievements of TETRA manufacturers, developers, system integrators, network operators, users and other members of the TETRA community worldwide.

Making up the judging panel were communications experts from across the globe. They flew in from as far away as Argentina, South Africa and Hong Kong, reflecting the truly international nature of the industry. (See page 32 for a closer look at the judging panel.)

After an introduction from Jon Benson, publisher of TETRA TODAY, guests settled down to a three-course meal in the Manhattan Room. Host for the evening was Peter Goulding, a former chief superintendent for London’s Metropolitan Police, who admitted to being “passionate about TETRA and all its benefits”.

Peter’s highly entertaining opening speech concentrated on his time in the Met and how dependent British police forces now are on TETRA technology. One particular highlight was his view of last year’s civil disturbances in London, and how police would have handled the occupation of a famous delicatessen store had TETRA not been around. Visions of police officers rushing to Starbucks to get a Wi-Fi signal for their iPad kept the audience amused.

He also wondered how certain historic events, such as the sinking of the Titanic, would have panned out had TETRA been available. 

It was the perfect warm up to the main event of the evening – the awards themselves.

These were made in six categories and the full results can be seen below.

Best TETRA Enterprise Product sponsored by Rohill

This category pitted Mentura, Motorola and AD Telecom against each other as finalists. Bert Bouwers, chief technology officer at Rohill, had the distinction of opening the envelope to reveal the evening’s first winner – the Finnish company Mentura, for its Role Oriented Communications Server.

The judges particularly liked this product for its increased security, reliability, flexibility and cost efficiency. One judge commented: “A powerful and well thought out product, with applications in many types of TETRA deployment.”

Mentura brought several staff  from Finland for the ceremony and they gathered on stage to collect the award with managing director Sami Honkaniemi.

Mr Honkaniemi commented: “We are delighted to receive this award as a recognition for the whole Mentura team’s dedication to creating excellent products for our customers. We humbly promise to stay focused on that same goal.”

Best TETRA Enterprise Solution sponsored by Mentura

It wasn’t long before Mr Honkaniemi was on stage again as Mentura sponsored the next award. He came up to announce the shortlist and winner.

Oyu Tolgoi Gold-Copper Mine in Mongolia took this prize ahead of Motorola. Representatives of the mine were unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony, which was understandable because the mine is located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, about 80km north of the Chinese border. 

Oyu Tolgoi had picked TETRA for its ability to provide the mine with effective, reliable and efficient communications. The TETRA system also provides essential safety enhancements for the mine’s workers, such as a GPS data service to determine the location of miners and equipment.

The judges were impressed with the use of TETRA in a new sphere of operations in a remote region of the world. One remarked: “Wow! Bold use of voice and data to solve real communications problems in an exotic location.”

Best use of TETRA for Private Industry

The third award of the evening brought Phil Godfrey, chairman of the TCCA, to the stage to announce the winner.

Four were nominated in this category and Phil opened the envelope to reveal CLP Power Hong Kong as the winner.

CLP Power is the first utility to adopt an 800 MHz TETRA solution. The judges were impressed with the originality of the company, which had invented and designed a series of TETRA applications with creative approaches unique to its business, setting an example for the application of TETRA in power industries.

One judge observed: “CLPP’s numerous home-grown technical developments illustrate the opportunity for innovation and originality with TETRA.”

Accepting the award on behalf of CLP Power were Francis Fung and Chu Wing Yuen from CLP Power. Mr Chu commented: “Great! Really a recognition for all the efforts we spent on our TETRA system.”
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