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Emergency services network

Updated 14 December 2015

About the emergency services network

The emergency services mobile communications programme (ESMCP) will provide the next generation communication system for the 3 emergency services (police, fire and rescue, and ambulance) and other public safety users. This system will be called the emergency services network (ESN). ESN will provide the next generation integrated critical voice and broadband data services for the 3 emergency services.

ESN will be a mobile communications network with extensive coverage, high resilience, appropriate security and public safety functionality. This allows users to communicate even under the most challenging circumstances.

ESN will enable integrated critical voice and broadband data services that are:

• enhanced: to provide integrated broadband data services
• flexible: to better match and be responsive to user needs
• affordable: to address financial pressures on central and user budgets

In addition to the 3 emergency services, over 300 other organisations are active users of the current emergency communication service. ESMCP is working with them to help manage their transition to ESN.

Emergency services network timeline

The timeline for ESN is:

• main contracts awarded in December 2015
• service begins July to September 2017
• transition to ESN between 2017 and 2020

Procurement

The main procurement is divided into the following lots:

• lot 1 (delivery partner): will provide programme management, integration and reporting to assure the build of ESN and transition between 2017 and 2019 of users on to ESN including procurement of user devices and upgrade of their vehicles
• lot 2 (user services): is a service integrator to provide end-to-end systems’ integration, manage user accounts, provide user services including public safety functionality
• lot 3 (mobile services): is a network operator to provide a resilient national mobile network

Latest procurement news

The ESMCP contract notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 14 April 2014, marking the launch of the tender process. Following completion of a pre-qualification questionnaire bidders successfully qualifying in each lot were taken through to the tender stage of the procurement and asked to submit bids in response to the invitation to tender (ITT).

In February 2015, after evaluating responses to the ITT, the programme invited 8 bidders to progress to the negotiation stage of the main procurement and then submit their best and final offers.

As a result of this process, the first main contract for the ESN Delivery Partner was awarded to Kellogg Brown & Root Limited (KBR).

In December 2015, the user services and mobile services contracts were awarded to Motorola Solutions and EE Limited, respectively.

The programme is now in the mobilisation phase before the start of transition.

Enabling projects

The programme is also managing a number of projects to support the main procurement:

• user devices and accessories
• vehicle installations
• air to ground (A2G) network
• control room upgrades, this may require:
  • upgrading the 200+ integrated command and control systems
  • connection to the public service network
  • connection to mobile data systems, fire mobilising systems and command and control systems
• extended area services, this project will take account of:
  • the mobile network operators commitment to provide 98% in building coverage by population
  • the mobile network operators commitment to provide 90% geographic coverage
  • the mobile infrastructure project, a government initiative to improve rural mobile coverage