Vodafone, Airbus and RugGear’s Mission-Critical Partnership

RugGear, a manufacturer of rugged devices, has joined the partnership between Vodafone and Airbus Public Safety and Security, part of Airbus Defence and Space. The partnership means that Vodafone can sell a bundled mission-critical package to emergency services and business customers through its digital marketplace.

“Together with Airbus and RugGear, we can give organisations a complete mission-critical communications solution, combining secure, resilient connectivity, collaborative applications and rugged devices,” says Marika Auramo, CEO of Vodafone Business. “This helps customers protect their people and the public, whether they are operating critical infrastructure, first responders or managing major transport hubs.”

What’s on offer?

The package combines:

• Vodafone’s MCx service: It prioritises calls, messages and data over 4G and 5G. MCx lets emergency teams share real-time live video updates, drone footage and critical information through smartphone-based tools. Vodafone is currently rolling out MCx across Europe following on from its initial launch in Germany. The company states that MCx is built on global 3GPP standards. Vodafone intends to provide support for future direct-to-device (D2D) mobile broadband satellite services.
• Airbus’s Agnet, which works over MCx: It is designed to securely connect large numbers of field agents with control rooms and provide commanders with enhanced situational awareness through live video feeds and other features. Agnet is available both as a cloud-based and on-premise solution.
• RugGear’s Android-based rugged devices, radios and tablets: These are tested to military-grade standards and designed to operate in harsh environments. Their built-in features include push-to-talk capabilities, GPS tracking, alarms, high-lumen torches and longer battery life than consumer handsets.

If you want to go far, go together

The new agreement with RugGear was announced during the Critical Communications World (CCW) event in London, and follows on from the partnership signed between Vodafone and Airbus in June 2025.

“We are thrilled to expand our collaboration with Vodafone by bringing RugGear on board,” says Olivier Koczan, Head of Public Safety and Security at Airbus Defence and Space. “Together, we are delivering a robust, highly secure communication ecosystem. By combining Agnet’s advanced collaboration capabilities with RugGear's rugged devices and prioritised 5G connectivity, we are giving critical industries the ultimate toolset to protect both their teams and the public.”

“Our rugged and durable devices harness the power of 4G and 5G networks to deliver safe, reliable and efficient mission-critical communications,” adds Maverick Chen, CEO of RugGear. “Together with Vodafone and Airbus, we ensure frontline teams can fully leverage Vodafone’s MCx prioritization and Airbus’s secure collaboration layers in the most demanding real-world scenarios.”