Nkom has established strategic cooperation with Lyse Tele, Telenor and Telia for testing and development activities. Nkom also cooperates with the Norwegian Health Network (NHN) and SimulaMet to establish test platforms and technical environments. Emergency and preparedness users are actively involved throughout the process because users know their needs best.

Why testing matters

Testing activities provide valuable knowledge and experience before large-scale deployment and migration. They help ensure that solutions and services function as expected under the operational conditions in which emergency and preparedness users actually operate.

Testing also supports:

  • risk reduction
  • increased technological maturity
  • improved understanding of user requirements
  • preparation for future procurement processes
  • compliance with international standards for mission-critical communication

Norway is the first country in the world to develop a solution based on multiple mobile operators and multiple core networks. Testing is therefore essential to verify that the solutions function effectively in practice and provide the required resilience and high availability.

Testing the entire value chain

Test and Development activities cover the entire value chain — from mobile networks and core infrastructure to mission-critical services, user equipment and operational workflows.

Testing activities include: 

  • coverage, including air-to-ground coverage
  • 5G network slicing
  • mission-critical services (MCX)
  • priority mechanisms and resilience under network congestion

Nkom is also testing solutions under real operational conditions, including realistic operational scenarios and interoperability exercises involving emergency and preparedness users.

Proof of Concept activities

Nkom uses Proof of Concept (PoC) activities to test solutions on a smaller scale before large procurements and nationwide deployment. This provides valuable experience with technologies, operational processes and user needs before large-scale implementation.