Andalusia's Digital Emergency Network a 'first' for Europe

Tait Communications technology is at the heart of a large public-safety investment in Andalusia, in southern Spain, which is connecting the region’s emergency response agencies and national bodies with a single mobile communication system. In announcing the project in late 2022, the Andalusian Regional Government (Junta de Andalucía) said its Digital Emergency Network (REDA) would be the largest in Spain and the first of its kind in Europe. Built on a Tait Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) system, the network is expected to include more than 6000 portable radio terminals in the field and is being engineered to work across more than 120 sites.

With a land area of 87,000 km² and almost 8.5 million people, Andalusia is Spain’s most populous and second-largest autonomy. Junta de Andalucía said the Digital Emergency Network will provide a single umbrella system for communications among and between the region’s frontline responders (police, firefighters and ambulance), other emergency groups such as specialist forest firefighting services, its water management agency and remote organisations such as ski fields which may need emergency support. Officers and managers outside the network coverage area can join in or monitor communications using broadband applications on smartphones and TAIT AXIOM equipment.

“[The network will] further strengthen our work with the state security forces and bodies, as it will allow interconnection with other networks such as those of the Emergency Military Unit (UME), National Police and Civil Guard,” Junta de Andalucía said.

The network is designed to deliver high coverage and is encrypted. It includes a facility to record all calls during an event, a service which is often used to review event management and to support improvement. Terminals on the network will further support safety by logging each unit’s location in real time and provide alerts if it detects the user has collapsed and may need help.

The Tait-engineered DMR Tier 3 mobile radio system purchased for the network also features support services; a large number of Tait’s TP9300 portable radios built to the intrinsically safe standard; TAIT AXIOM mobiles (vehicle-mounted devices which switch seamlessly between mobile radio and cellular, depending on which provides the best carrier solution); 850 TAIT AXIOM wearable devices; instances of Tait’s applications for smartphone users who do not need to carry a frontline radio; and Tait GridLink data terminals, which are used to remotely monitor and control fixed equipment in the field (SCADA use cases).

Tait Communications was represented on the project by its long-time Spanish channel partner, Sistelec, which is a supplier to the project’s main contractor. Sistelec Chief Executive Iker Murillo said the fundamental role that communication technologies play in keeping people safe is a deep responsibility, particularly in complex projects such as this one. “For this reason, Sistelec always aims to use industry-leading technology and suppliers such as Tait Communications,” he said.

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