Moving public-safety communications from narrowband systems such as TETRA to 4G and 5G is rarely a straightforward technology replacement. Coverage has to be at least as good as the system being replaced, resilience requirements are considerably higher than those of an ordinary commercial mobile service, and migration can take many years. Iceland provides a particularly interesting example of how this transition might be approached. A presentation at Critical Communications World 2026 outlined Iceland’s current thinking for its next-generation critical communications system. Rather than immediately building a completely separate nationwide 5G network or simply relying on ordinary commercial mobile services, the emerging model combines dedicated spectrum, a dedicated core and MCX capability, and shared hardened radio infrastructure. The starting point is Iceland’s geography. The country covers around 103,000 square kilometres, around 75% of which is uninhabited highland and roughly 10%...
2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, IoT, Bluetooth, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, Satellites