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The US doesn't use TETRA but a US-specific standard called Project 25, which also has a history of poor crypto choices. There is something about telco standards
by fmajid 3y ago
The US doesn't use TETRA but a US-specific standard called Project 25, which also has a history of poor crypto choices. There is something about telco standards committees that keep reinventing the crypto square wheel, same with cellular standards and also WiFi.
What's remarkable (not in a good way) about P25 is that the mandated a voice codec is the intellectual property of a MIT spin-off and they never negotiated a standard license fee so that company can essentially charge as much as it wants for a government-mandated standard. San Francisco paid over $120M to equip 11,000 buses, so over $10,000 per radio (TETRA radios are also expensive due to no economies of scale, but they cost a more reasonable $4,000 each).
- mschuster91 3y ago> There is something about telco standards committees that keep reinventing the crypto square wheel, same with cellular standards and also WiFi. The companies involved in creating these standards want to enforce usage of their patents, because even under nominally FRAND terms it is a guaranteed shitload of money for about 10-20 years as everyone has to license the patent. On top of that come the demands from secret services and pigs who want to be able to root around in communication as they please - and unlike ordinary IETF standards which are created by experts, anything involving radio transmission automatically involves the governments with their ability to license or to not license, so the committees are under a huge leverage to let as much bullshit pass as possible without generating too much outrage.
- fmajid 3y agoExcept both TETRA and P25 are for police and public safety.