Marking the company’s first major mission-critical solution deployment in Europe, Samsung partners with IBM to elevate mission-critical communications systems in Great Britain

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that the company is teaming up with IBM as the mission-critical (MCX) solution provider to the UK’s Home Office, for a User Services deployment as part of the Emergency Services Network (ESN). This selection marks Samsung’s first major mission-critical project in the U.K., reinforcing the company’s continued growth in the region and expanding on its successful multi-generation commercial networks business using virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN technologies.

This milestone underscores Samsung’s commitment to advancing mission-critical networks globally, supporting government agencies to keep communities safe. Designed to prioritize network access for first responders in emergencies, ESN will deliver reliable and seamless connectivity to over 300,000 first responders in the U.K.

Alongside IBM and other industry-leading partners, Samsung will support the core mission-critical communications systems with its innovative MCX solution, which is backed by Samsung’s deep expertise honed from successful nationwide public safety network deployments in the U.S. and Korea. Samsung’s MCX solution will enable intuitive multimedia sharing in real-time, supporting the ability of first responders to assess and respond to emergency situations.

“As mission-critical communications are of the utmost importance for the nation’s security and protection of its citizens, Samsung is proud to take part in this program to evolve public safety networks in the U.K.,” said Everth Flores, Vice President and Head of Samsung Networks Europe. “At the heart of this collaboration lies Samsung’s undisputed technological competence, on top of the solid trust that we have garnered with our successful mission-critical solution deployments around the globe. Harnessing the momentum of this milestone, Samsung will continue to contribute to building a more secure, connected society.”

“We are proud to support the Emergency Services Network (ESN) in delivering a secure and resilient communications platform to empower frontline emergency services,” said Rahul Kalia, Managing Partner at IBM UK and Ireland. “Working with our ecosystem partners, we will deliver mission-critical services for first responders to enhance safety in our communities across Great Britain. We look forward to working with the Government to deliver this in a timely and cost-effective manner.”

With its full suite of mission-critical solutions, Samsung has accumulated its expertise in the public safety sector globally by working together with leading operators and government stakeholders on successful MCX deployments, starting with building the world’s first 3GPP standard-compliant nationwide public safety network in South Korea. The company also worked with one of the largest national operators in the U.S. to bring America’s first-ever nationwide MCX solution. More recently in Canada, Samsung teamed up with Tier 1 operator to deploy the country’s first MCTPX solution in 2022.

Samsung is responsible for the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Samsung Networks and TELUS today announced the successful deployment of Canada’s first next-generation Mission Critical Push-to-X (MCPTX) services. Deployed over TELUS’ globally recognized network, this new MCPTX solution will equip Canada’s first responders with the information and data they need to more accurately assess emergency situations, improve responsiveness and operational efficiency, and drive better public safety outcomes. This state-of-the-art technology will enhance multimedia communications with vital operational features such as video, geographic information system (GIS), geo-fencing, remote database access, and more, keeping communities safer.

“TELUS is building on its long-standing association with Samsung to bring best-in-class technologies and connectivity that will help public safety organizations manage emergency situations with greater responsiveness thanks to mission critical features that go well beyond legacy voice technologies,” said Marshall Berkin, Vice-president, Industry Solutions, TELUS Business Solutions. “Our MCPTX services will leverage the strength of our award-winning network, as well as our integrated ecosystem of public safety solutions, to empower first responders with critical, reliable, and secure connectivity that will ultimately save lives. This launch also accelerates our commitment to Smart City solutions that help municipalities use technology and data in new ways to benefit residents’ health and safety, meet sustainability goals, and increase operational efficiencies.”

TELUS’ MCPTX service will be offered with priority access to commercial users on TELUS’ network. The service is actively being trialed with a select group of customers with wider commercial availability planned for later in 2022. With mobile broadband technologies powered by 4G and 5G, the nature of mission critical communications is undergoing a significant evolution, as MCPTX solutions provide a significant enhancement to today’s commonly used LMR (Land Mobile Radio) and push-to-talk (PTT) voice technologies.

“Samsung has proven deployment experience with end-to-end solutions – from network infrastructure to devices, to lead the industry in this space,” said Stephen Wiktorski, Vice President and Head of Networks, Samsung Canada. “We’re pleased to collaborate with TELUS to help solve Canadian first responders’ critical communications challenges, and look forward to future opportunities to integrate MCPTX capabilities within private networks, next-generation 9-1-1 (NG911) and smart cities.”

Improving public safety outcomes with mission critical communications

MCPTX technology will enhance communication in many public safety scenarios. For example:

• First responders – With MCPTX technologies, first responders, like police officers, can gain knowledge and expertise from their peers in different locations or other public safety agencies. They can all communicate with each other in real-time in order to quickly resolve a public emergency. That could mean enabling video to be pushed immediately to dispatch a coordinated response or sharing a map of the officer’s location with other first responders on the ground.
• Catastrophic events – In the event of a catastrophic situation, cellular usage drastically increases and the network gets congested with many people trying to reach their loved ones. With quality of service, priority and preemption (QPP), first responders have priority access to the broadband network with a reliable and secure connection.
• Connected Ambulance – A connected ambulance will help save more lives, as paramedics can share critical information using a portable ultrasound or a haptic glove over a prioritized connection, helping emergency room doctors to start treatment remotely, and emergency rooms preparation to be optimized for patient arrival.
• Traffic Control for emergency services – With MCPTX, traffic route maps for emergency vehicles could be transmitted to all intersections and traffic lights, clearing the way for an emergency vehicle to quickly reach its destination, with “green lights” all along the route.

Samsung continues to lead the advancement of next generation public safety networks and has a proven track record of successful MCPTX deployments. Samsung network technology with LMR interoperability is a proven solution deployed by FirstNet^[1], as the first-ever, nationwide mission-critical standards-based PTT solution in the U.S.^[2] Also, in Korea, Samsung teamed up with leading Korean operators to launch the country’s PS-LTE network in 700MHz, which was the world’s first 3GPP-compliant nationwide public safety network with MCPTT service.[3] Since 2021, this PS-LTE network has been offering fast and reliable connectivity to first responders in hundreds of organizations and agencies, including police, firefighters, emergency medical services, and the military.

To learn more about how Samsung and TELUS are solving critical communication challenges with MCPTX solutions, the companies have released a new whitepaper on public safety.

For more information on Samsung’s network solutions and capabilities, visit www.samsung.com/global/business/networks.

For more information on how TELUS supports first responders, visit telus.com/en/business/v2/medium-large/mobility/public-safety

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^[1] FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks and service marks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

^[2] https://about.att.com/innovationblog/2021/fn_mission_ready.html

^[3] https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-powers-worlds-first-3gpp-compliant-nationwide-public-safety-network-with-mcptt-service-in-korea