TETRA  |  2010-11-16

Launch day for FireLink in Wales, UK

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

Airwave - the most advanced public safety radio platform in the world.

This month the FireLink programme saw its official launch in Wales. 

Airwave has delivered the network and services that have gone in to providing Welsh Fire and Rescue Services with a resilient, secure and flexible network that allows them to fully interoperate with all other Fire and Rescue Services in the UK - and with other agencies if required.  This important capability will enable the Welsh Fire and Rescue Services to directly communicate with their colleagues in the police and ambulance services during an incident, making the coordination of the response that much more effective.

We are incredibly proud of the work we have done with FireLink and the individual fire services and we wish them our wholehearted congratulations on the launch.

With FireLink now in place, Fire and Rescue Services in Wales will be able to benefit from an improved dispatch process as vehicles will now be able to be mobilised over data rather than voice.  This will speed up dispatch times and provide crews with a greater depth of detail on the incidents they are responding to.  Radio communications will also be improved with dramatically clearer reception and a completely secure network.

This is another important milestone in the upgrading of the UK’s public safety communications infrastructure.  With the Airwave network, Britain now has the most advanced public safety radio platform in the world, providing the blue light services and other agencies with the right tools to do their jobs effectively.

More details on the launch, including comment from Social Justice Minister Carl Sargeant, can be seen on the following news sites:

The BBC
‘Safer’ £45m radio system for Welsh fire teams launches

News Wales
£45 million to co-ordinate fire and rescue services

Source; www.airwavesolutions.co.uk