This article explains the outcome of recent research and innovation towards the needs of public safety which has lead to a high priority now driven by EU Policy. This works in the medium term to establish the European Critical Communication System (EUCCS) by 2030, which will be founded upon LTE and 5G. The opportunity is then open for research and innovation of smart networks and services today, to be adopted by EUCCS national hosts, towards 2035, 2040 and a continuous beyond.

Our safety and security first responders must have the best mobile communication services, better than bad actors, building our societal resilience against those who want to disrupt our European society.

The BroadX programme, laying the foundation for EUCCS policy

The following projects are lead by Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE) Forum [1], partnered with Ministries and/or their delegated agency, responsible for public safety communication in their country. Currently 17+ governments are represented on a technical level, with experts from all EU and Schengen member states involved in the work towards preparing EU Regulation to establish EUCCS by 2030.

• BroadMap (2016-2017)[2]
  Project ID 700380
• BroadWay (2018-2023)[3]
  Project ID 786912
• EUCCS Preparation (BroadEU.Net) (2024+) [4] – DG Home Internal Security Fund
  ▫ Stage 1 : ENLETS2.0 WP3 (2022-2024) Project ID 101055498
  ▫ Stage 2 : BroadEU.Net_Stg2 (2023-2025) Project ID 101145863
  ▫ Stage 3 : EUCCSPrep_Stg3 (2025-2026) Project ID 101228522

The EUCCS Preparation programme continues in a close-to-deployment pre-commercial mode. Joint procurement of 15 Ministries/agencies of 15 countries has contracted Airbus, Frequentis, Leonardo and Teltronic to deliver Mission Critical services for administration by a maximum of 12 countries, to trial technical aspects of interconnection between MCX services to allow responders from different countries to enable Operational Mobility.

The Operational Procedures team includes responders of all disciplines from across Europe to evaluate:

• Is this what we actually need?
• Does it work? Can we use it?
• Will EUCCS help us or hinder us?
• What Operational Procedures will we need?

6G4Society[5] and FIDAL SNS-JU projects

With public safety addressing a societal need, the 6G4Society supports this, with the consideration towards understanding key values that innovative technology addresses. The FIDAL project[6] carries our Field trials beyond 5G, in the context of two verticals Public safety and media. 3 advanced testbeds are located in Greece, Spain and Norway.

3 workshops have taken place 2022-2024 resulting in 2 papers that help steer the preparation towards EUCCS:

• What Connectivity to Improve PPDR?[7]
• n What Security in Future Communication?[8]

SNS-JU Verticals – Technical Justification vs Need

The concept of vertical sector in 5G/6G research and standards draws a focus to understanding the needs of a particular market space in order to understand technical requirements. This then defines a reference point for technical research and innovation. In the 5G-PPP programme, the focus was on advancing technical Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). This made a distinct target for technical R&I but misses the impact towards vertical needs. This appears to continue onwards into the Horizon Europe Smart Networks and Services programme, but with a new consideration of Key Value Indicators (KVI’s). Understanding Key Values helps to understand the qualitative, and non-economic, view of new technology advances of Smart Networks and Services; in this case towards the key value of e.g. safety in our society.

This image provides an example of a Key Value. The importance is to understand how the increased speed of data contributes to the Value. This can only be understood by involvement of different views from those who take part in different roles in firefighting and associated safety preserving roles. Its crucial to understand why this value is improved by an innovative system that can transfer data faster.

The technical work towards 5G, and now 6G, has run in parallel to the work to defining the need, and towards establishment of EUCCS.

Towards EUCCS

The Mission Critical Communication Expert group (MCCG), lead by EC DG Home, is currently preparing an Operational Plan to define actions for each member state towards their national deployment of Mission Critical services and interconnect towards establishment of EUCCS. This includes enhancement to ETSI and 3GPP standards, and for steps towards the adoption of new innovations beyond the initial establishment of EUCCS. This includes the requirement for a testbed to evaluate new innovations, before national and pan-European adoption can be funded and facilitated.

EUCCS Policy Context

The following identifies the policy towards establishment of EUCCS

• The European Commission DG Home, established the Mission critical Expert Group (MCCG)[9], May 2023.
• EUCCS was first publicly explained in the Digital Infrastructure White Paper, February 2024 – How to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs?[10]
• President von der Leyen’s Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2024–2029[11], July 2024
• Mission Letter for Magnus Brunner[12], new Commissioner for Home Affairs, October 2024
• Sauli Niinnisto, ‘Safer Together: Strengthening Europe’s Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness’[13], November 2024.

Conclusion

This article introduces the EUCCS which will be established by 2030, which identifies the target for current and future innovation that will enhance response capabilities of public safety first responders. The foundational projects are identified together with the policy context.

The BroadWay trial in Malaga, Jul 2020. 50 responders from all disciplines from across Europe, working together to evaluate the value of the 3GPP Mission Critical Services towards the realisation of the Operational Mobility capability.

For further information, please contact the ­author.

References:

[1] Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE). Available at: https://www.psc-europe.eu

[2] EUCCS BroadMap Project. Available at: https://euccs.eu/broadmap/

[3] EUCCS BroadWay Project. Available at: https://euccs.eu/broadway/

[4] European Critical Communication Society (EUCCS). Available at: https://euccs.eu

[5] 6G4Society Project. Available at: https://6g4society.eu

[6] FIDAL-HE Project (Future Internet for Disasters and Lifesaving). Available at: https://fidal-he.eu

[7] PSCE. (2023). “Connectivity for Public Safety Communications – Infographics.” Available at: https://www.psc-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/PSCE-Connectivity-infographics_V26.09.pdf

[8] PSCE. (2024). “What Security in Future Communication?” Report. Available at: https://www.psc-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/WHAT-SECURITY-IN-FUTURE-COMMUNICATION-4.pdf

[9] European Commission. Expert Group on Broadband Communication Systems for Public Safety (E03526). Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-register/screen/expert-groups/consult?lang=en&groupID=3908

[10] European Commission. (2023). White Paper: How to Master Europe’s Digital Infrastructure Needs. Available at: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/white-paper-how-master-europes-digital-infrastructure-needs

[11] European Commission. “President-elect Ursula von der Leyen.” Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/about-european-commission/president-elect-ursula-von-der-leyen_en

[12] European Commission. (2024). Mission Letter to Commissioner Brunner. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/ea79c47b-22f8-4390-a119-5115dc40fc3e_en?filename=Mission%20letter%20-%20BRUNNER.pdf

[13] European Commission. (2024). Niinistö Report on Europe’s Future Infrastructure Needs. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/5bb2881f-9e29-42f2-8b77-8739b19d047c_en?filename=2024_­Niinisto-report_Book_VF.pdf

Acknowledgement:

All projects identified here are funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

BroadWay trial in Malaga, July 2022