September 2002

The Dolphin TETRA-based telecommunications network, which went into receivership a year ago, has been bought by Inquam, an international company that specialises in low-frequency wireless networks for business users in niche markets.

Inquam has paid £25 million for the Dolphin UK TETRA network, which provides mobile radio services to 45,000 business subscribers. It says it has a fully-funded turnaround plan to position Dolphin UK as the leading provider of professional "push-to-talk" services. Target markets include the utilities, transport, logistics, and construction sectors.

Inquam's senior vice-president of operations, Tony Greaves, formerly of O2 and Airwave, will lead the existing management team at Dolphin as chief executive. Commenting on the acquisition, Tony Greaves said: "We believe that with the right strategy, sound execution, and secure funding, Dolphin can be turned round. We will continue to provide a good service and a reliable network, and win new business customers in niche markets where demand for 'push-to-talk' services is high."

Canadian-based Dolphin took over the former National Band Three system in the late 1990s, around the time when it was moving from the original analogue network to the TETRA digital system.

• A new TETRA standard has just been published, and significantly it includes clauses defining roaming and interworking with other telecommunication networks. It is published by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. If you want the detail, it's the ETSI EN300 392-V1.2 Voice plus Data (V+D), Part 1.