The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) develops and refines standards for critical communications over cellular networks, as part of a larger set of cellular communications standards set by the 3GPP, who also developed standards for 3G, 4G LTE and 5G cellular technologies.
These standards define the operation over cellular networks of high-priority push-to-talk (MC-PTT), video (MC-Video) and data communications (MC-Data), together known as Mission Critical Services or MCX. For well over a decade, Motorola Solutions has been an active participant in the creation of these standards and we continue to develop our foundational communication solutions to support them.
Success at the 10th 3GPP MCX Plugtests
In May 2026, Motorola Solutions participated in the 10th 3GPP MCX Plugtests, hosted at the ETSI headquarters in Sophia Antipolis, France. Plugtests are organized by ETSI and supported by the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), The Critical Communications Association (TCCA) and the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC). They are critical to ensuring that vendors create MCX products that are fully interoperable and standards-based.
Motorola Solutions has been participating in these plugtests since 2017. Our successful demonstrations highlight our commitment to promoting 3GPP standards-based internetworking, aligned with the latest Release 18 and Release 19 specifications. This year was no exception. Supported by our UC 14.1 Release and dedicated developments from our Innovation team, we successfully validated core capabilities across four key test streams:
Inter-MCX server-to-server interoperability
In partnership with other MCX vendors, MCX client and Dispatchers, we successfully demonstrated cross-platform, server-to-server MCX capabilities. A primary achievement was the validation of "Mutual Aid" operations in untrusted mode, where users across different MCX environments successfully participated in group calls via temporary patched groups. This critical milestone ensured our successful inclusion in the official final report and prominent showcase during live Observer demonstrations.
MCX-to-IWF interoperation
The MCX-IWF (InterWorking Function) is the 3GPP standard for connecting next-generation MCX networks and legacy land-mobile radio (LMR) systems. Collaborative efforts with other MCX vendors, MCX clients and dispatchers confirmed seamless, robust connectivity between MC-PTT and legacy TETRA LMR networks. Motorola Solutions successfully demonstrated the IWF gateway's ability to handle both participating and controlling roles, routing on-demand emergency calls, standard group communications and status alerts flawlessly.
Advanced 4G LTE and 5G network support
Public safety operations require reliable connectivity that spans multiple generations of network technology. The team validated Unicast MC Bearers and 5GS QoS Flows over both 4G and 5G networks. Working alongside radio and core partners like Teltronic, Druid and Enensys, we proved our system's capability to maintain high-priority Quality of Service (QoS), dynamic group data subscriptions and Short Data Service (SDS) across modern cellular infrastructures.
Comprehensive MCX Application Server interoperability
Our latest software release was rigorously evaluated as an MCX Application Server (MCX-AS), proving highly interoperable with an extensive ecosystem of third-party mobile clients and dispatch systems. The testing covered a comprehensive suite of features:
- Application servers: Comprehensive testing of our Mission Critical Push To Talk (MC-PTT), MC-Data and MC-Video application servers.
- MCX common service layer: Validation of all server components of the MCX Common Service layer, including GMS, CMS, KMS and IDMS.
- End-to-end use cases: Demonstrating a whole range of features related to MC-PTT, MC-Data and MC-Video functioning effortlessly with various other vendors' MCX clients and dispatch consoles.
- Network integration: Successful integration of our platforms with both 4G (EPC) and 5G cores, leveraging standard QoS interfaces to ensure reliable traffic prioritization.
Demonstrated standards compatibility
Through intensive multi-vendor testing and live observer demonstrations where live interworking MCX-MCX and MCX-IWF systems was presented to global industry stakeholders, Motorola Solutions has proven that our latest MCX architecture is fully compatible with the evolving 3GPP MCX ecosystem, reinforcing our market leadership in critical communications. Providing direct demonstrations of these multi-vendor capabilities to public safety operators, government bodies and network regulators is essential. It offers these critical decision-makers a firsthand opportunity to assess how prepared they are for actual field deployment.
Learn more about our MCX solutions.