The UK two-way industry: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

The two-way radio industry has survived and flourished, despite the rise of mobile networks and smartphones. But what are its current challenges and opportunities? Sam Fenwick investigates

The UK’s two-way radio industry is a well-established and vital part of its economy, underpinning business- and mission-critical operations in a huge range of sectors. But what challenges does it face? One of the classic tools beloved by managers and consultants is the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. Of the four areas, the first two focus on internal issues, while the second concentrate on external factors. Let’s examine each of these in turn.

Strengths
One of the two-way radio industry’s inherent advantages is that many of its resellers and systems integrators are adept at providing and supporting two-way radio solutions that have high levels of resilience and availability. Tim Cull, head of business radio at the Federation of Communication Services (FCS), notes that “as time goes by, legal implications are becoming more serious and so growing in importance. Sensible users choose business radio solutions when they consider the imperatives arising from due diligence processes.”