According to Hytera, the group will develop a core competence centre “to accelerate future-proof railway communication systems for KTZ. KTZ plans to start use the centre to develop a research project for ‘Introducing New Standards of Railway Radio Communication for Railways of the Asia-Pacific’ in 2023.
Ivan Wang, country manager of Hytera Kazakhstan, said the competence centre will act as “a key driver to accelerate the digitalization of KTZ” and provide a platform for railway communication specialists from Hytera, KTZ, and BT Signal to exchange technical expertise, approve roadmaps for project implementation and implement new modular programs.
The company has laid out plans for a Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) evolution of the Kazakhstan railway, in which a convergent network of carriers’ 4G/5G networks and KTZ’s existing TETRA system will be formed to provide unified and future-proof rail dispatch and communication services and “lead the next-generation in railway communication evolution”.
KTZ controls about 16,400 km of track including sections of the old Trans-Aral Railway, the Trans-Caspian railway and the Turkestan-Siberian Railway. The company manages 46,800 freight wagons, 1,700 locomotives and 2,300 passenger cars and last year Kazakh Prime Minister Asqar Mamin announced plans to extend KTZ’s high-speed rail line terminating in Tashkent, Uzbekistan across the border to Shymkent and Turkistan.
