The transition to broadband group communications is well under way around the globe. The number of new deployments increases each year as vendors address a global market opportunity estimated by Data Bridge research to reach $35.55 billion by 2029. The evolution to broadband group communications enables first responders to go beyond just voice, but also be able to instantly share videos, files, location and critical mission data reliably and without geographic boundaries.

Reliability and resilience are paramount in mission critical communications. Today’s MCX deployments do not have an effective solution in areas where cellular coverage is lacking. Vendors address this issue by creating dual mode devices that enables fallback to LMR for direct mode D2D communication between the group members.

To address this situation, 5G Sidelink was standardized by 3GPP, and developed by Qualcomm to enable Direct mode communication over 5G. 5G Sidelink technology is now considered a key part of the overall 5G network evolution and works in full harmony with all 5G networks deployed around the world.

“For the efficient deployment of MCX broadband group communications, it is now critical for MCX vendors to take the next step and embrace MCX direct mode communications technology with their solutions to allow off-and on-network communications,” says Pierre Hagendorf, CEO of MCX enabler Softil. “Wherever the emergency situation, First Responders must be able to communicate whether a network is operational or down.”

Off-Network Plugtest at ETSI

Softil was one of the first companies to demonstrate an MCX off-network solution at the ETSI plugtest in 2023 alongside Alea, Leonardo Company and Qualcomm.

The next step for the evolution of the MCX industry is the first dedicated off-network plugtest being held in November at ETSI headquarters in Sophia Antipolis, France, November 3-6, 2026. The goal of the plugtest is to validate the interoperability and performance of multi-vendor MCX solutions in real off-network scenarios. The plugtest is well attended by MCX vendors and observers from around the world and will provide invaluable help in advancing MCX off-networks communications.

The MCX industry also conducts work at one of TCCA’s CCBG task forces to compile the library of requirements and use cases specifically targeting MCX off-network communications in the realm of the overall broadband mission-critical communications paradigm.