23 Mar 2017

ESN device tender dates announced

The Home Office has announced that the invitation to tender (ITT) for ESN-enabled hand-held ruggedised devices is expected to go out at the end of this week. This will be followed - according to ESMCP's Steve Whatson - by vehicle devices, which will go to the market in May. The tenders follow a period of consultation with public safety users across the country, including representatives from the Police and Fire and Rescue Service.

The announcements came during the opening session of BAPCO 2017, the annual event for those involved in public safety communications, which took place in Telford this week. Speaking of the imminent issuing of the tenders, Whatson said: "The programme made a decision after some considerable consultation that it made sense to centrally set-up a framework for devices.

"Companies will be able to take part in getting their devices onto that framework, from which users will then be able to procure. Regarding vehicles, we'll likely only go for a single device."

Whatson was accompanied during the joint presentation by EE's Lucy Baker, alongside Simon McCutcheon from Motorola Solutions, both of whom provided updates on their respective companies' areas of work.

During her presentation, Baker said that EE's 4G geographic coverage has risen from 50 per cent to 80 per cent since being awarded the ESN contract in 2015. She also announced that the company was using BAPCO 2017 to launch a 'coverage portal' through which users will be able to gain more detail of predicted coverage in specific locations up to 100 metres, with information updated every three months.