ETSI is organizing, with the support of the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Critical Communications Association (TCCA) and the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC), the 5th FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) Plugtests event, which will be hosted by the UIC in Paris, France from 27 to 31 October 2025. 

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THE 5TH FRMCS PLUGTESTS EVENT?

Interoperability and the harmonisation of mission-critical services are key challenges in successfully deploying and operating mobile broadband communication systems across various sectors, particularly in railways.

The FRMCS Plugtests events aim to validate the understanding of FRMCS standards and the interoperability of diverse implementations through a range of test scenarios based on the 3GPP Mission Critical Services framework, explicitly focusing on railway-specific features.

This event provides a collaborative environment where vendors, operators, and railway organizations can test their solutions, ensuring that equipment from different manufacturers works together seamlessly. Achieving interoperability and standard harmonisation is essential for the effective rollout of FRMCS, as reliable communication is critical for safe, efficient, and well-coordinated railway operations.

This FRMCS Plugtests event is part of the MCX Plugtests programme.

The tests will be based on 3GPP, ETSI and IETF standards, and are designed for the following equipment:

• FRMCS capable MCX Application Servers (MCPTT, MCDATA, MCVIDEO)

• FRMCS capable MCX Clients (MCPTT, MCDATA, MCVIDEO)

• UEs and Cab Radios

• eMBMS Components

• IMS / SIP Cores

• Consoles and Control Rooms

• Test Equipments

• RAN Equipment (gNB)

• Packet cores (5GC)

The purpose and scope of the FRMCS Plugtests event are to test independently and jointly all components of the Mobile communication System for Railways. Railway-related test cases are available in ETSI TS 103 564. Additional railway-oriented test cases focusing on GSM-R Interworking and Migration and Interconnection for MC services will also be developed for this Plugtests.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

• Vendors which develop and produce above mentioned equipment.

• All vendors must actively participate in the testing railway features.

• Products have to support Rail features like functional aliases, multi-talker, etc.

• Observers, which can be government organisations, mobile network operators, railways operators, users, agencies or regulators. Observers are welcome to help define the scope (i.e.functionality to be tested) for this event and to evaluate the tests statistics in the TRT (Test Reporting Tool). 

• New Vendors and Observers have to sign the Rules of Engagement and Non-Disclosure Agreement of the MCX Plugtests Programme to participate.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF ATTENDING THE FRMCS PLUGTESTS EVENT?

• To assess the level of interoperability of your implementations

• To validate your understanding of the standards

• To test with (many) other real implementations and demonstrate end-to-end interoperability

• To debug your implementation: early bug fixing, saving time and costs

• To promote the technology and the ecosystem

THE PLUGTESTS OBSERVER PROGRAM

The focus of the observer program will be to examine and discuss the progress of deployment and the challenges of FRMCS. The observer program will be held onsite and will provide a platform to the various stake holders in railways to discuss the progress of FRMCS. 

The observer program will also include interoperability demos from interested vendors, which will show how their solutions meet the FRMCS Plugtests test cases and observer scenario use cases.

This Plugtests event is organized by ETSI and is co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).