Motorola Solutions agrees to pay more than $1 billion for Airwave TETRA network in Great Britain

Mark noted that Motorola Solutions would not provide the LTE connectivity for the ESN. That will be provided by a carrier partner—“Lot 3” in the bidding process. Commercial wireless carrier EE has been named as the preferred partner, but that contract has not yet been finalized.

Most public-safety agencies in Great Britain have contracts for TETRA service from Airwave that will expire between 2017 and 2020, according to Mark. Although UK officials previously have stated that public-safety personnel would transition from the TETRA network to a public-safety LTE network as early as next year, the current timetable calls for the ESN to begin providing service in early 2017, with agencies transitioning to the LTE system from 2017 through 2019.

Meanwhile, Mark indicated that Motorola Solutions would be open to renegotiating the terms of the existing Airwave contract with public-safety agencies that have been a source of criticism from many British officials.

“Part of the approval process [for the Airwave deal] is getting government approval, and it’s very important to us that—as we go into this relationship owning their only provider of emergency services—we do it with a positive view from both parties, as far as the business arrangement,” Mark said. “So that clearly will be something that we’ll be talking about between now and the close [of the deal].”

In addition to providing emergency-services communications in Great Britain, Airwave also has infrastructure assets in Germany, Mark said.