Does Vodafone have ESN over a barrel?
The Home Office's plan to replace the Airwave TETRA network with the LTE-based Emergency Services Network could be faced with more turmoil, following the news that Motorola Solutions subcontractor Vodafone has announced its intention to switch off its part of the service by March 2020.
The information was revealed during a session of the Public Accounts Committee – to which the programme was recalled on February 1st – where the contents of a communication from Motorola Solutions highlighting the issue (which had been sent to both ESMCP and the PAC) was outlined by the committee.
Vodafone, through its purchase of Cable and Wireless in 2012, delivers the core ground based transmission network service that connects all elements of the Airwave mobile network together. As a result, Vodafone is currently acting as a subcontractor to Motorola Solutions (the owner of Airwave) and is not directly contracted to the Home Office on ESN.
Towards the end of last year, Vodafone notified Motorola Solutions that the fixed legacy system would be decommissioned in March 2020 when Airwave was due to be switched off. Land Mobile understands that Motorola Solutions is working to understand the exact impact of this development.
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