TIA TR-8 Committee on Mobile and Personal Private Radio Standards Begins Work on LMR Intrinsic Safety and Signal Boosters and Elects New Leadership

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TIA TR-8 Committee on Mobile and Personal Private Radio Standards Begins Work on LMR Intrinsic Safety and Signal Boosters and Elects New Leadership

Arlington, VA (May 10, 2013) – The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, today announced that its TR-8 Mobile and Personal Private Radio Standards Engineering Committee has elected new leadership.  The election was held during TR-8’s meeting in Kansas City, MO, April 23-24, 2013, where the committee launched a new working group on Intrinsic Safety considerations, began discussion on use of signal boosters and awarded a Certificate of Appreciation to departing TR-8.25 Subcommittee Chair Tess Zagaruyka.

In the meeting, TR-8.21 LMR Intrinsic Safety Considerations Subcommittee announced an open invitation to join the ANSI/TIA-4950-A working group, which is leading the effort to revise ANSI/TIA-4950 Requirements for Battery-Powered, Portable Land Mobile Radio Applications in Class I, II, and III, Division 1, Hazardous (Classified Locations). Signal Booster Systems Working Group #7 (WG7) of the TR-8.11 Engineering Subcommittee provided a summary of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) February 20, 2013 –issued Report and Order amending its rules to improve wireless communications through the use of signal boosters. TR-8.11 WG7 invited all interested participants to join the working group, especially those with detailed knowledge of LTE and TDMA.

TIA congratulates the following newly elected chairs and vice-chairs for assuming leadership roles in the TR-8 Mobile and Personal Private Radio Committee and its subcommittees:

• David VanderStaay, Systems Staff Engineer at Thales Communications, Inc., was reelected chair of the TR-8.3 Encryption Subcommittee.
• Tom Senese, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Motorola Solutions, was elected vice chair of the TR-8.3 Encryption Subcommittee.
• Jim Eastwood, Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Motorola Solutions, was reelected chair of both the TR-8.5 Signaling and Data Transmission Subcommittee and the TR-8.15 Common Air Interfaces Subcommittee.
• Robert Speidel, Advisor, Regulatory and Standards at Harris Corporation, was reelected chair of the TR-8.17 RF Exposure Subcommittee.
• Terry Mansfield, Fellow of the Technical Staff at Motorola Solutions, was elected a vice chair of the TR-8.17 RF Exposure Subcommittee.
• Jerry Drobka, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Motorola Solutions, was reelected chair of the TR-8.19 Wireline System Interfaces Subcommittee.
• Jim Holthaus, Director, Product Marketing at RELM Wireless Corporation was elected chair of the TR-8.25 Compliance Assessment Subcommittee.

“I am extremely pleased with the new and returning subcommittee leadership,” said John Oblak, TR-8 chair and Vice President of Standards and Regulatory affairs, EF Johnson Technologies. “They bring a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success to the process.” 

Nominations for vice-chair positions for TR-8.5, TR-8.21, TR-8.29 and TR-8.25 are now open. In addition, elections for TR-8.21 will be held at the August 2013 meeting and the subcommittee is now accepting nominations for chair and vice-chair positions.

TR-8 also honored Tess Zagaruyka for her outstanding leadership of the TR-8.25 Compliance Assessment subcommittee for half a decade, and for 20 years of active participation in the work of TR-8. Ms. Zagaruyka has been a very effective committee leader and brought approximately 22 documents to publication. The ICT industry has truly been well-served by Tess’s outstanding service to TR-8.

“Tess has been a strong and effective leader of the subcommittee,” said Oblak. “We’ll miss the dedication and professionalism she brought to the process.”

The next TR-8 meeting will be held in August 2013 in Anaheim, CA. TIA welcomes all our participants to attend and engage in the committee meetings.

A major function of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is the writing and maintenance of voluntary industry standards and specifications. These activities are carried out by the volunteer members of TIA engineering committees. On the public engineering committee pages, users will find recent meeting reports, agendas and notices for upcoming meetings, as well as links to some of the most popular standards from each committee. To inquire about participating in TIA standards developing efforts, please contact the TIA Technology & Standards Department at 703-907-7000 or via e-mail at standards@tiaonline.org.

About TIA

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) represents manufacturers and suppliers of global communications networks through standards development, policy and advocacy, business opportunities, market intelligence, and events and networking. TIA enhances the business environment for broadband, mobile wireless, information technology, networks, cable, satellite and unified communications. Members' products and services empower communications in every industry and market, including healthcare, education, security, public safety, transportation, government, the military, the environment, and entertainment. Visit tiaonline.org for more details.

TIA is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and is a proud sponsor of ANSI’s Standards Boost Business campaign. Visit www.standardsboostbusiness.org  for details.

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