Interview with Olivier Koczan, CEO of Airbus SLC

Olivier Koczan

SDBR News : How was 2020 for Airbus Secure Land Communications (SLC), in terms of activity, employment, markets and results ?

Olivier Koczan : As we all know, this past year was unprecedented, demanding and filled with challenges that no one could have anticipated. You’ve asked me about our activity. The first thing I would like to address is that despite the constraints encountered in the various countries we operate in, we have always been able to serve our customers and provide them with all the support they need. Our operating networks did not encounter any major problems. Given the importance of our solutions to the operation and operational performance of our customers who carry out critical activities, this point is absolutely essential. The second thing I want to emphasise is that we have been able to adapt the organisation of our activities and our operating methods to comply with the constraints imposed by the authorities in the countries where we have teams. The safety of our employees has always been ensured. This was made possible thanks to the flexibility and sense of responsibility shown by our teams.

Furthermore, we have been continuing our transformation journey, and have maintained our recruitment targets, which is indispensable for preparing for the future.

Olivier Koczan : Of course, in a number of regions throughout the world, governments have prioritised the management of the health crisis; this has automatically resulted in certain equipment projects, including those related to public safety, being given less priority. For us, this has translated into a performance that was very slightly less than what we had set as our target before this crisis began. Overall, apart from this reallocation of priorities and, consequently, budgets, we have not witnessed any major impact. Given the circumstances, it was overall a very satisfactory year.

SDBR News : What place do secure communications have in Airbus Group's strategy today ?

Olivier Koczan : Secure communications in the broad sense, whether mobile, stationary, satellite or otherwise, occupy an increasingly important place in Airbus Group's strategy, and that of the Defence and Space division in particular. The division provides solutions and operates secure communication services for the French army, as well as the armies of various other countries, such as England and Germany. And of course, we are the world leader in secure communication solutions for public safety forces.

This strategic importance is also reflected in the Group's commercial activity, for which secure communications play an increasingly important role. The Group is itself operator of communication services for a large number of airports around the world.

SDBR News : How are you approaching 2021?

Olivier Koczan : The year 2021, and here more specifically for the Airbus Secure Land Communications (SLC) programme unit for which I am responsible, is characterised by a significant number of projects which mark an acceleration in the evolution that we have identified and analysed – and this has been the case for several years now – towards adopting broadband communication solutions to allow the implementation of new user services. This trend is particularly evident in – but is not limited to – Europe. It is still a bit early to say whether all these projects will see the light of day. Here again, how the pandemic evolves in such and such country may affect the priorities given to some of the ongoing projects.

In France, in particular, the Réseau Radio du Futur (Radio Network of the Future) programme perfectly illustrates this evolution.

 We are therefore approaching 2021 with optimism as it will effectively reflect the market development that we have been anticipating for several years and for which we are prepared.

SDBR News : You have gained market shares in intra-airport communications around the world. Do you see new opportunities in this area?

Olivier Koczan : Yes, completely. As I just mentioned, airports are part of our growth strategy and are vertical markets that we target specifically. A recent example of how we have implemented this strategy is the new Beijing airport, which we have equipped with our solutions. China is a territory where we equip many airports. We have very clearly selected the "airports and airlines" market as a vertical market because we are convinced that there are significant needs to support the development of operations on airport platforms. We already have a large established base and we aim to increase it significantly in the near future.

SDBR News : Where are you at with the migrations of networks from 4G to 5G in your various markets?

Police in Guangzhou

Olivier Koczan : It is going as planned: 4G is a reality; 5G is becoming more and more so. Our range of solutions is fully compatible with 4G/5G because our solutions, known under the Tactilon Agnet brand, comply with 3GPP standards in this area. As for 5G, I would like to stress that we were the first to use it operationally with our solutions. We did it in the city of Guangzhou, in China: a first in the world of public safety.

Our solutions are perfectly open, compliant with standards, and ready to be used with the communication services, 4G or 5G, available in the various countries.

SDBR News : How do you see the future of Airbus SLC in this surprising world ?

Olivier Koczan : Growing ! I cannot help but think that we have read the evolution of our market very well. We were the first to characterise how it was going to play out and I am pleased about that. I believe that we are well-positioned to support the evolution of this market and to offer the solutions that our users need and will need in a near future.

It goes well beyond just secure communication solutions and services. There has been a clear evolution in the way operations are conducted: yesterday, they were essentially centred on voice usage, today – and tomorrow even more so – they will benefit from the contributions of "data", whether it be video or data of all kinds. We are further strengthening our offer by providing application solutions that use this data.

We have been preparing for this evolution for several years now. We are committed to this, always bearing in mind the specific constraints of our customers' operational use cases. This is why we attach particular importance to anything that contributes to the employability of our solutions. Beyond data sharing and processing applications, the characteristics of the terminals used, or their associated accessories, are of great importance and must be taken into consideration in view of the overall performance of the solution.

These subjects are complex and are not easily understood.

It is also for this reason that we are convinced we have the knowledge and experience necessary to develop the solutions that our customers expect. This stems from our history and our deep knowledge of use cases, be it with the police, response and rescue services, or more industrial customers.

https://www.securelandcommunications.com

Photos credits: Airbus SLC