Indoor and outdoor coverage of the tetra radio communication networkin Belgium

Abstract

Indoor and outdoor radio communication coverage is permanent issues for the emergency services in every country. In earlier times, every local service had its own communication network. Modern digital radio technology however offers a far better quality of communications and offers furthermore interoperability between different agencies. In Belgium, the national authorities imposed a national tetra radio communications network for the emergency agencies, called the ASTRID (All round Semi-cellular Trunked Radio communication with Integrated Dispatching) network (Law, 1998). But the users are becoming increasingly demanding as of the coverage of this network. Consequently, improving the radio coverage has become the biggest issue.