UK's ESN passes prioritisation milestone

The UK’s new 4G Emergency Services Network (ESN) system has achieved its first successful demonstration over a live public mobile network.

The aim of the ESN is to provide emergency services with a new cutting-edge communication system by using commercial carrier networks, but giving emergency service calls priority.

Engineers performed the test on 8 February between an EE mobile mast site in Bristol and a location in Basingstoke.

This is the first time Motorola Solutions’ software has linked together with the live EE mobile phone network and demonstrated prioritisation of emergency services communications on a public network.

“This is a complex project which will provide the emergency services with the most advanced communications system of its kind anywhere in the world — which is why successful tests like these are an excellent achievement,” said UK Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Nick Hurd.

“Members of the public are already seeing some of the incidental benefits of the project like its improvement of the 4G mobile network — 90% of the UK is now covered.”

Other developments in the delivery of ESN include:

• The introduction of handheld devices — 130 have now been produced for testing
• The first new rapid response vehicle has been tested and more are currently in production
• Transport for London has now laid ‘leaky feeder’ cables in almost 100 km of tunnels out of a total of 420 km in the London Underground.

Already there have been over 100 genuine 999 calls received through ESN masts in places where there was previously no coverage.

Image courtesy UK Government.

Follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook