The UK Home Office’s transition from the Airwave TETRA network to the future Emergency Services Network (ESN) has been boosted through Etherstack’s delivery of a key integration milestone – certification of Etherstack’s Interworking Function (IWF) with the existing Airwave network.

Achieving this milestone represents an important step towards enabling the bulk transition of Great Britain’s frontline users onto the ESN. Etherstack’s IWF provides the critical interoperability bridge between the existing Airwave network and the ESN, which will ensure continuity and operational effectiveness during transition activities.

The milestone demonstrates that standards-based TETRA-to-MCX interworking can be readily achieved within complex, multi-supplier environments at a national scale. Combined with Etherstack’s recent deployment for AT&T FirstNet in the United States, it shows that open standards adoption can enable structured transition between existing LMR networks and emerging MCX broadband networks across multiple vendors and technologies. This is essential for operational continuity, investment protection and lower-risk technology evolution.

The certification demonstrates the maturity of Etherstack’s IWF technology to support one of the UK’s most challenging public safety communications transitions over the current and next decade.

“Achieving Airwave certification is a significant milestone in the development of Etherstack’s Interworking Function (IWF) and its role in supporting interoperability between Airwave and the Emergency Services Network (ESN). The certification provides important evidence of the IWF’s interoperability with the Airwave network. The Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) will assess the operational readiness of the complete Interworking Gateway (IWG) solution through the wider programme of integration, testing and assurance, including end-to-end interoperability with the ESN MCX service, compliance with ESN-specific requirements, and performance, capacity and resilience at the required operational scale. This milestone reinforces Etherstack’s ongoing commitment to supporting the Home Office, programme partners and the emergency services community as ESN progresses towards nationwide deployment, delivering secure, resilient and mission-critical communications capabilities for frontline users.” – The Home Office

“Achieving this certification is a great accomplishment for the Etherstack team, both here in the UK and globally. We are extraordinarily proud of their focus and professionalism in getting the job done. Importantly, on time. The effort invested in delivering a secure, resilient and mission-critical solution that supports the objectives of the ESN programme cannot be underestimated. Our world leading Interworking Function was created to provide the trusted bridge needed to support safe and controlled transition of the public safety community from the current generation of technology onto next-generation ESN.” – Ashley Fletcher, Director Public Safety, Etherstack