Interoperability

One of the most distinctive aspects of TETRA is the extremely high level of interoperability among products (e.g. network infrastructure, radio terminals) from different manufacturers.

This is achieved thanks to TCCA’s comprehensive Interoperability Certification process (IOP) which enables a truly open multi-vendor market for TETRA equipment and systems. This multi-vendor market gives concrete benefits both to the users in terms of a wide portfolio of compatible equipment, competitive pricing and rapid development of new product models; and to the industry in terms of a wider accessible market, faster market take-up and better possibilities for investment in new development.

TCCA’s IOP Certification process is based on live test sessions performed on commercial products according to interoperability profile specifications and test cases. These are generated by TCCA’s Technical Forum as an agreed interpretation of the ETSI TETRA standards and are representative of actual operational conditions and users’ needs. Further information about the TETRA IOP certification process can be found here.

All signaling exchanged between the tested devices are traced and checked against the profile specifications and test cases by an independent Certification Authority (currently ISCOM, Istituto Superiore delle Comunicazioni e delle Tecnologie dell’Informazione – laboratory of the Italian Communications Department of the Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico) which then releases the IOP Certificates (publicly available here).

The depth of this process, which provides protocol testing rather than just high-level functional testing, with the results cross checked and certified by an independent body, underlines its unrivalled specificity and the reliability of the TETRA standard.