https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Broadband Push-to-X


News

UK plans to start public-safety ‘mass transition’ from Airwave to ESN in first half of 2024

UK plans to start public-safety ‘mass transition’ from Airwave to ESN in first half of 2024

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 15th October 2021

United Kingdom (UK) public-safety agencies are scheduled to begin switching mission-critical voice communications from the Airwave TETRA radio system to the LTE-based Emergency Services Network (ESN) during the first half of 2024, with complete ESN migration expected in 2026, according to a Home Office official.

ESN Programme Director John Black shared the timetable while updating the progress on the much-delayed UK public-safety broadband initiative during his keynote address at the British APCO (BAPCO) event conducted this week in Coventry.

ESN deployment has been plagued by significant delays, as the original project proposing that UK public-safety agencies start migrating mission-critical voice services from the expensive Airwave TETRA network to the ESN in 2016. But delays in the ESN network buildout and development of a suitable push-to-talk (PTT) solution have forced the Home Office to extend its contract for the Airwave service, which is owned by Motorola Solutions—the same company charged with developing the PTT replacement service for ESN.

Despite the many past delays and billions in projected cost overruns, Black expressed optimism that the latest revamp of the ESN project has the broad-based support and realistic business plan needed to make UK public-safety broadband communications a reality throughout the UK.

“We’re currently targeting the start of mass transitioning in the first half of 2024,” Black said during the BAPCO keynote. “It’s a 27-month projected period. We’ll do everything we can to accelerate that, if we can … The objective then is to achieve Airwave shutdown by the end of 2026.”

Achieving this timeline will require Motorola Solutions to provide a PTT solution suitable for public safety. Black said the UK government has been conducting tests with multiple version of Motorola Solutions’ carrier-integrated PTT offerings that the vendor giant gained by purchasing Kodiak in 2017 and will continue to do so through next year.

Motorola Solutions is expected to deliver ESN Version 1.0—described by Black as “the version we need for mass transition”—in the spring.

“The real target is ESN Version 1.0. ESN Version 1.0 is based on Kodiak 12, and the critical part of that is that Kodiak 12 [will be released] by Motorola around April of next year, and then we have a year of testing on that to make sure it does everything that we need it to do,” Black said, indicating that a production version of ESN 1.0 should be available in the first half of 2023.

“Even when we’ve done that, it will still be another year before we start the mass transition, and that’s currently targeted for some time in the first half of 2024.”

Meanwhile, Home Office officials will be working with UK public-safety agencies to test the PTT solution and the rest of the ESN system to ensure that it functions as needed.

“The absolute priority is officer safety” Black said. “We have to test this thing, test it to death, retest it and put through some big operational scenarios.

“Our users have been clear to us that safety is paramount, and that absolutely is critical. There is a red line there that you can’t cross.”

From a coverage standpoint, 648 of the 700 new ESN cell-site towers have been built by EE—the commercial carrier that is serving as the network contractor for the public-safety broadband initiative—with 566 already operational, Black said. The UK government is responsible for building 292 Extended Area Service (EAS) sites in remote and rural areas.

“That [EAS] program is well underway,” Black said. “We’ve built 127 of those, and we’ve started the process of activating them. We’ve only got six of them activated so far. We’ve got a plan to complete work before mass transition starts in 2024.”

Black also cited good progress in providing coverage for users in the London Underground, in aerial vehicles and at sea, but he noted that “we’ve still got quite a bit of work to do” in providing in-building coverage.

Overall, Black said he believes “we’re in a really strong position with [ESN] coverage” and offered an encouraging note about the comparison between the ESN’s coverage models and real-world coverage.

“Every time we make actual measurements, we’re finding that our models are conservative—we’re underestimating the available coverage,” Black said.

Airwave service originally was supposed to be halted in 2019, when the initial contract for the TETRA service expired. The current Airwave extension is set to expire at the end of 2022, and the agreement requires that any further extension be signed by the end of this year. Officials for Motorola Solutions and the Home Office are in the process of negotiating a four-year extension of the TETRA system that would result in the shutdown of Airwave by the end of 2026.

Many throughout the UK government have expressed concern about Motorola Solutions’ dual role as the owner of Airwave and as a key supplier of the ESN. In particular, those familiar with the situation have noted that Motorola Solutions makes significantly more money annually from maintaining Airwave than it does to develop a PTT solution that would replace Airwave.

This summer, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) noted in a 36-page report that Motorola Solutions currently is positioned to realize about £1.2 billion—$1.66 billion—in “excess profits” from 2020 through 2026 from its dual roles with the UK government.

With this in mind, the CMA initiated a proceeding in July to gather input whether it should launch a market investigation into Motorola Solutions. Comments in the proceeding were due on Sept. 2, but none have been published to date, as the CMA website for the proceeding only states that “we’re analysing your feedback.”

 

Tags: homepage-featured-4 Applications Broadband Push-to-X Companies Coverage/Interference Dispatch/Call-taking Federal Government/Military Funding In-Building Land Mobile Radio Long Term Evolution (LTE) News Policy Public Safety Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet Regional Coordination Software Standards State & Local Government Subscriber Devices System Design System Installation System Operation Test & Measurement Tower & Site Wireless Networks News

Most Recent


  • AR-based next-gen maps aim to rebalance detail and simplicity
    Every sat-nav user is familiar with the chagrin of missing their turn because the map’s lines and circles don’t resemble the real world. Yandex is blaming maps, not users, for these errors. At its annual conference in December, the company presented its re-designed maps boasting natural-looking 3D objects such as trees, bus stops, colored buildings, […]
  • Vodafone UK starts 'risky' shift to 5G standalone
    Vodafone’s Andrea Dona has unflattering words for some of the IT products that could sit inside his high-performance 5G network. “There are OSS limitations,” said the chief network officer of the UK service provider, referring to operational support systems from unnamed vendors. “If there is full automation on the 5G element, and the OSS is […]
  • ChatGPT may be fastest-growing app of all time, UBS Says
    OpenAI’s immensely popular chatbot ChatGPT may just have broken the record for the fastest-growing app in history, reaching an estimated 123 million monthly active users less than three months after launch. According a research note from UBS shared with AI Business, TikTok took nine months to hit 100 million MAUs and it took Instagram 2.5 years […]
  • Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding
    A coalition of public-safety associations today reiterated its support for federal legislation that would provide the funding needed to pay for 911 centers to migrate from legacy technologies to an IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) platform that is designed to support multimedia communications, as well as traditional voice calls. Representatives of the Public Safety Next Generation […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • TCCA Webinar: Is there space for LMR and Critical Broadband to coexist?
  • Lynk Global: Margot Deckard explains company's LEO satellite-to-phone tech, rollout plans
  • FirstNet buildout more than 95% complete, AT&T exec says
  • JPS Interoperability Solutions: Roman Kaluta showcases company's product lineup at IWCE

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

AR-based next-gen maps aim to rebalance detail and simplicity dlvr.it/Sj4gdM

7th February 2023
UrgentComm

Vodafone UK starts ‘risky’ shift to 5G standalone dlvr.it/Sj4dPJ

7th February 2023
UrgentComm

ChatGPT may be fastest-growing app of all time, UBS Says dlvr.it/Sj4NfL

7th February 2023
UrgentComm

Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding dlvr.it/ShwGfn

4th February 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny dlvr.it/Shvpw3

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless dlvr.it/Shth0P

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them ‘verified’ Cloud Partner status dlvr.it/Shqngn

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Shapeshifting robot can morph from a liquid to a solid dlvr.it/Shqk9K

2nd February 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.