You are in:
- EDITORIAL CONTENT » News » News
Tasmania emergency services get new radio network
Tasmania’s emergency services departments, located on the island to the south of mainland Australia, is to receive a standards-based radio network to coordinate its nine essential services, including police, fire and ambulance in the event of a terrorist attack as reported
The new digital radio network will be operational by 2012 and is designed to replace an array of siloed communications systems currently shared between the emergency services departments, state electricity operators, and the Parks and Wildlife agency. The state-wide network is estimated to cost around $25 million, although this is not confirmed until the project has gone to tender and will use a mix of standards-based technologies and be designed to the APCO 25 radio communications standard.
Police and Emergency Management project director Emsada Babic said the platform will replace vulnerable analogue networks and improve responsiveness to national security threats. “The project is driven by counter-terrorism and the need for interoperability between agencies and emergency services for issues that affect the whole state and require a coordinated government response,” said Babic.
They are considering deploying the new system over EDACs infrastructure, which operates in the 800Mhz band, or switching to 400Mhz which will require new terminals and handsets. The new system will see users increase from 900, currently on EDACs, to about 2,000 after other agencies go live.
A spokesman for the Tasmanian Ambulance Service (TAS) said the network is a good change for all agencies although sounded a note of caution: “The plans are a welcome development, but there hasn't been a lot a clear direction about who and what it will involve,” he said.
The Ambulance service operates a mid-band VHF radio network in metropolitan areas and shares a regional link with the fire service. While channel numbering was provisioned in the mid-band networks to allow other agencies to inter-communicate, the spokesperson said the function was rarely used.
