By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Chicago-headquartered Motorola Solutions announced Wednesday that its subsidiary TETRA Ireland has completed upgrades to Ireland’s mission-critical emergency communications network, making it one of the most advanced systems of its kind in Europe.
The investment enhances the Managed National Digital Radio Service, known as MNDRS, which provides secure communications to approximately 26,000 emergency service users across Ireland, including police, firefighters and paramedics, according to a news feature posted on the company’s website.
The upgrades bring additional resiliency and functionality to the network and extend TETRA Ireland’s contract to operate MNDRS through December 2029, according to the posting.
“The contract extension underscores a commitment to TETRA technology as the backbone of mission-critical communications across Ireland, whilst ensuring the network remains ready for the future,” Neville Reilly, managing director of TETRA Ireland, said in the release. “The extensive upgrades to the system make it ideally suited to continue meeting the evolving needs of the 26,000 Irish emergency service personnel, who can rely on the MNDRS for many years to come.”
The upgrades included refreshing the core infrastructure to the latest generation of Motorola Solutions’ DIMETRA X Core technology, which runs on virtual servers to make it easier to add new features. The system now includes the capability to run DIMETRA Connect, which extends network reach with seamless roaming to broadband while maintaining secure radio features and encryption, according to the posting.
The network’s backhaul connectivity was also migrated from legacy copper and leased line infrastructure to Ethernet and fiber-based technologies, improving efficiency and resiliency for end users, according to the company.
MNDRS provides connectivity across Ireland, including rural and remote areas, extending up to 20 kilometers offshore. Since launching in 2009, the network has consistently exceeded 99.9 percent recorded uptime, according to the posting.
Fergal Stack, head of National Mobilisation and Communications System at the Irish Fire Service, said the network is essential to emergency operations.
“Reliable voice communication is something we simply can’t go without, so MNDRS is a critical lifeline for us, delivering the reliability we prize above all else,” Stack said in the posting. “It’s always reassuring to see further enhancements to the network to help sustain its high performance into the future.”
Motorola Solutions acquired TETRA Ireland in March 2022. The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MSI, is a global provider of public safety and enterprise security technology. Its headquarters are located in Chicago’s West Loop.
The Ireland network investment is part of Motorola Solutions’ broader strategy of growing its managed and support services business worldwide. The company owns and operates networks and security operations centers globally, supporting customers in public safety, mining, energy and public transportation.
