State Unitary Enterprise has introduced a new network

St. Petersburg became the first city in Europe to launch the latest digital trunking radio network from Motorola - MOTOTRBO Connect Plus. The solution, successfully used in the USA and Australia, has never before been launched into commercial operation in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Now the new trunking system will be used by specialists from the State Unitary Enterprise Vodokanal of St. Petersburg.

In March of this year, a presentation of the new digital radio communication network MOTOTRBO Connect Plus, built at the facilities of the State Unitary Enterprise Vodokanal of St. Petersburg, took place. Six base stations (sites) with a capacity of 38 frequency (70 talk) channels and 1,720 terminals were introduced. The network provides coverage of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. It is expected that by the end of 2012 the number of radio stations in the system will be 2,300 units. A digital radio network has a number of advantages over analogue options - higher levels of performance, security, fast access to voice and data transmission, and energy independence. The system operates based on the DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) standard.

“The DMR standard introduces time multiplexing, which allows voice to be transmitted in two streams. This saves frequency resources, active and repeater equipment. Plus, this is especially important in Russian conditions, where there is a shortage of frequencies and it is difficult to obtain them,” says Andrey Nagornykh, manager for technical support from Motorola Solutions.

The network was built by a subsidiary of Vodokanal of St. Petersburg - OJSC St. Petersburg Radiocommunications Company (SPb RKK). Let us recall that in 1992 RKK became the first trunking communications operator in Russia. At that time, analog Smart Zone technology was used, also from Motorola.

It is curious that Vodokanal of St. Petersburg decided to modernize its radio network after the famous blackout in the summer of 2010. The problems that arose then with communications showed that the existing radio network did not meet the needs of the city’s strategic facilities in emergency situations. When the power goes out, cellular networks stop working, as do some trunked networks. The authorities proposed that Vodokanal create a new non-volatile digital trunking network.

“The construction itself ended in October, now the project has been officially presented, I can say that its results are excellent,” says Evgeniy Pryadkin, General Director of St. Petersburg RKK. According to him, all base stations are located in premises connected according to the first category. The battery system provides 12-14 hours of operation during a power outage, plus there is an additional system for connecting low-power portable diesel generators. The system is decentralized, there is no central switch, so if an element fails, the network itself will continue to function. When working on the network, you can make various types of calls - individual, group, individual as part of a group, emergency. “This is explained by the fact that each radio station and digital network repeater has its own IP address,” explains Mikhail Rybachenkov, general director of Saga-Telecom.

During negotiations, extraneous sounds, such as a jackhammer, wind or airplane, are not transmitted, since the AMBE+2 vocoder replaces the voice with appropriate samples. Thus, noise is cut off. “Negotiations over the network are secure. The number itself is difficult to track. In addition, the radio stations have built-in 40-bit encryption, licensed by the FSB,” says Mr. Nagornykh. “This system is “tailored” to provide communications in extreme situations - emergencies, terrorist attacks, problems with standard means of communication,” notes Mr. Rybachenkov.

In addition, digital radio stations have a modem through which you can transmit data at a speed of 2 Kbps. This is not enough to transmit a large amount of data, but it is enough to transmit simple requests, for example, information received when scanning a product in a warehouse.

Mr. Pryadkin says that the St. Petersburg RKK company expects to receive new clients who will want to take advantage of the network’s capabilities. First of all, the focus is on enterprises in the engineering and energy complex. In the meantime, St. Petersburg RKK, in addition to Vodokanal of St. Petersburg, provides radio communications mainly to taxi services and private security companies. Investments in the project amounted to 52 million rubles. The return on investment period is 2.5 years.

Evgeny Trifonov, director of sales of radio systems at Motorola Solutions in Russia, notes that Motorola has quite a lot of offers in the field of mobile solutions for corporate and departmental customers. In St. Petersburg, the company implemented joint projects with the State Unitary Enterprise "Petersburg Metro" and the Central Internal Affairs Directorate. "Motorola Solutions became the first vendor in Russia to provide a modern digital radio system to enterprises of the city's engineering and energy complex, various operational services, emergency departments and other structures involved in supporting the life of St. Petersburg. This is a serious step towards organizing effective professional mobile radio communications for Russian enterprises and departments,” noted Mr. Trifonov.

The MOTOTRBO Connect Plus digital radio network is already operational in the US and Australia. Before opening in St. Petersburg, it had never been launched into commercial operation in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Motorola representatives say that the network will later be rolled out in other European countries.

Alexey Tsoi

Motorola got through to Vodokanal