Phil Kidner, CEO of the TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA), has announced his retirement after eleven years at its helm. He will be succeeded by Tony Gray, founder and first chair of the TCCA’s Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG), as of September 1 2017.
During his time as CEO, Kidner (pictured top right) has steered the Association through a period of significant change. While the market for TETRA and other standardised PMR narrowband technologies continues to grow, critical broadband is now on the horizon.
Under Kidner’s leadership the Association has become fully focused on ensuring that broadband network operators deliver a fit-for-purpose service for business-critical and mission-critical communications, on behalf of its members and all end users.
“With Phil’s guidance, the Association has grown immensely in stature. As well as supporting the ongoing development of the TETRA standard and helping to ensure the strength of the TETRA market, the TCCA is a 3GPP Market Representation Partner, and earlier this year we worked with ETSI to deliver the first Mission Critical Push to Talk Plugtests. We thank Phil for all his work in building the Association’s profile as a respected expert body on critical communications,” said Mladen Vratonjić, TCCA chair of the board.
“On behalf of all TCCA members, Tony Gray will continue to strengthen our capability to represent and support our members and the wider critical communications community in the PMR world, oversee the continued enhancement and promotion of the TETRA standard, and ensure the ongoing impact of the Association on the development of Mission Critical LTE as trusted bearer for critical communications.”
Tony Gray (pictured bottom right) has worked in the mobile communications industry for more than 40 years, and has been a TCCA Board member for six years, sponsored by P3 Group, a German communications engineering and consulting services provider.
As well as extensive knowledge of PMR technologies, Gray’s background brings significant commercial cellular expertise, as P3 has more than 15 years’ experience in the testing and optimisation of mobile networks worldwide.