The Home Office has agreed on a new contract with BT and EE to continue the development of the Emergency Services Network (ESN).
It has reached a mobile services agreement with the companies, both subsidiaries of BT Group, with a deal valued at up to £1.85 billion and to run for seven years and three months from the expiry of the existing deal with EE at the end of this year. There is also an option for a one-year extension.
The contract award notice also indicates that users of the ESN, which is due to replace the existing Airwave communications network for emergency services, will be expected to have moved onto it by 2029.
This follows a series of delays in the development of the ESN, work on which began in 2015 with an original schedule to be in place by 2020, but was reset in 2018 after a series of technical problems. This has prompted highly critical reports from the National Audit Office and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.
The services covered by the contract include ensuring the network coverage and that users can access the radio network with 4G, evolving into 5G Stand Alone, including for air to ground and marine operations up to 12 nautical miles offshore. They will also extend into specific locations including the London Underground.
Retaining the incumbent
EE is the incumbent supplier of the mobile service element of the programme, and the award notice says an alternative supplier would not be able to meet the technical requirements within the timeframe. This is related to the need to build a dedicated 4G/5GSA network that could meet the demands of availability, resilience and security.
The two contractor companies will have responsibilities including the provision of technical interfaces for connections to the network, support services for optimising its use, deployment and testing services, and protection of coverage at critical locations.
