ETSI

ETSI is one of the world's leading standardization organizations for Information & Communication Technologies (ICT). ICT are gaining an increasingly important role for civil aviation. Although the aviation business has relied on ICT for many decades, the continuing growth in passenger numbers, long-haul flights, demands for advanced services and the ever-increasing pressure on available radio spectrum are all creating a need for innovation and harmonization. Applications extend from professional services, such as air traffic control systems, to services for passengers, such as onboard telephony, and ETSI is responsible for specifying many of them. Within Europe, the Single European Sky initiative has brought added political pressure to replace the traditional, highly-fragmented air traffic control structures by means of greater harmonization and an assured interoperability between systems. Here again, ETSI's expertise is being put to good use. As a formally-recognised European Standards Organisation, we produce Community Specifications for use under the Single European Sky initiative, and Harmonized Standards which enable manufacturers to declare conformity with European EMC and R&TTE Directives. But our focus extends beyond Europe to embrace the entire world. Among our 20,000 standards: air-ground and air-air equipment for voice and data communications; GSM Onboard Aircraft; Aircraft Earth Station equipment for operation in the Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service (AMSS)/Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), and/or in the Aeronautical Mobile Satellite on Route Service (AMS(R)S)/Mobile Satellite Service (MSS). We offer an open process, where each member company or organisation can participate directly in the standards-making task. Currently, over 720 companies from 62 countries worldwide enjoy the benefits of ETSI membership. We also provide interoperability testing through our Plugtests[TM] brand - during 2009 testing events will include ATM-VoIP and ATS-R2/SIP and ATS-QSIG/SIP gateway functions.