Motorola scoops Lithuania deal

Lithuania’s Ministry of Interior has selected Motorola to deliver a nationwide communications network based on Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) – the open standard for digital private mobile radio (PMR) – to serve its border guard, customs, emergency and state secret service.

The IP-based system supports data transmission, enabling the country’s public safety organisations to send data – such as fingerprints, passport information, licence plates and pictures – to and from handheld TETRA devices and central computer systems.

The network will also ensure that Lithuania fulfils Schengen cross-border communication requirements.

Motorola will work with its local distributor, JSC INTA, to design and implement the network. The contract also includes 6,200 TETRA radio devices with built-in global positioning system (GPS) to pinpoint the users’ location. The company expects rollout of the new network to begin in the second quarter of this year, with completion due by the fourth quarter, when the network will be handed over to the Ministry of Interior.

“With the need to manage secure cross-functional and cross-border communications, Lithuania will benefit greatly from its investment in one of the most up-to-date TETRA networks in the world,” says John Gherghetta, corporate vice president and general manager, EMEA Networks & Enterprise, Motorola. “This network will enable the emergency services operating across the country to achieve new levels of integration and collaboration, which will only improve the quality and effectiveness of the services they deliver.”