Outlook 2025: Requests for Terrestrial Secured Communications Networks Will Increase

Thibaut Faivre, the Head of Sales and Program Delivery for the Middle East, Africa, and India at Airbus Public Safety and Security, says his company hopes to continue leveraging its global expertise in securing communications in public transport next year

How did the industry and your company fare in 2024, and what were the key highlights?
2024 was a fruitful year for Airbus Public Safety and Security, during which we achieved continuous growth. We maintained and upgraded existing networks, our solutions contributed to securing large events including the Abu Dhabi F1 race in December 2024 and we signed new partnerships with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in the Middle East.

We also successfully carried out several operational demonstrations with ACMOSS, an agency of the French Ministry of Interior as part of the Réseau Radio du Futur (RRF), the nationwide broadband communications network whose rollout is expected in 2025. Finally, Airbus was awarded the EUCCS preparation contract, an EU-funded project which aims at demonstrating cross-border interoperability between European broadband communications systems.

What opportunities do you foresee for 2025, and how do you plan to leverage them?
Several governments and industries are currently accelerating their digital transformation, whether it’s to transition from narrowband to broadband technologies for their critical communications or to adopt hybrid configurations, and Airbus Public Safety and Security will be there to support them. Moreover, the Middle East hosts more and more large events of all types every year, a trend which we will observe again in 2025 and that will give us new opportunities to contribute to securing them with our solutions, services and teams. And, following on from the Riyadh metro that has just opened, there are also numerous metro and train projects ongoing in the region. We hope to continue leveraging our global expertise in securing communications in public transport next year.

What major challenges did you encounter in 2024, and how did you address them?
Global public safety forces unfortunately had several natural disasters to handle around the world in 2024, including the dramatic floods in Dubai, Spain, Germany and France. In these countries, first responders remained connected, were able to communicate with each other and ultimately saved lives, especially due to the resilience and redundancy of our TETRA and Tetrapol networks on which our narrowband solutions rely.

Secondly, we saw the rise in power of Agnet, our broadband platform based on 4G/5G, continue this year with more and more end-users to serve. Finally, people stand at the heart of our organization and company culture. This is why recruitment has been essential as always: we want to attract and keep the best international and regional talents, with the most valuable skills, to operate our transition from a world of telecommunications to IT.

Which emerging technologies do you believe will be in high demand in 2025, and why?
Given the growth of LEO satellite services, we think that we will receive more and more requests for terrestrial secured communications networks and satellite communication services to be both integrated through an end-to-end approach in 2025. There is indeed a clear continuum between these two types of technologies to leverage, with adapted solutions like Agnet Over Satcom.

Airbus also relies on OneWeb, a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites which has global coverage thus aiming at enabling connectivity everywhere. Moreover, with the transition from narrowband to broadband technologies, cybersecurity becomes more and more important every day. Many countries have adopted national cybersecurity regulations and created dedicated governmental agencies. At Airbus, we offer advanced cybersecurity services and solutions, embedded in our critical communications networks.

What will be your primary focus areas and strategic priorities for 2025?
Our main priorities will be to remain a global leader in mission-critical communications, to grow in capabilities compliant with industry standards, and to expand these capabilities beyond Agnet to meet future customer needs and develop capabilities for defence. In this context, we will focus on maintaining and upgrading existing networks, strengthening the dialogue with Ministries of Defence and Ministries of Interior, consolidating regional partnerships, and highlighting what Agnet Turnaround can bring to ground handling teams in airports. We will also focus on the interoperability of critical communications systems within as well as between countries, in order to interconnect GCC TETRA networks.