News

Mason Advisory: UK Emergency Services Network

Date:

September 2015

Mason Advisory to support delivery of the next-generation UK Emergency Services Network

Mason Advisory will form part of the KBR team appointed to support the Home Office in delivering a new mobile communications service for police, fire and ambulance users in the UK.  Mason Advisory will support KBR with technical and public-safety expertise for this complex and critical service.

Last week KBR was announced as the Home Office’s Delivery Partner for the GBP1 billion Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP). Mason Advisory will support KBR throughout the four-year programme with expert resource to manage and assure the rigorous testing and trials programme – essential to ensure users have the confidence that the Emergency Services Network (ESN) meets mission-critical requirements – and to provide assurance of the underlying ESN technology and service elements in partnership with the Home Office team.

The programme will securely deliver broadband data and voice services that will ensure the emergency services have cost-effective access to a mobile communications platform that supports an increasingly data-centric world.

The ESN will not only help support feature-rich mobile data services it will also help blue-light organisations to transform their control room environments, as well as supporting the numerous channel-shift programmes already underway in delivering digital services to the public.

Duncan Swan, Director at Mason Advisory, said: “Those associated with the ESMCP all have a single goal: to deliver a mobile communications network worthy of those who work within our emergency services – often in difficult circumstances. At Mason Advisory, we understand this goal and will bring our knowledge and experience of mission-critical systems to ensure ESN is fit for purpose through rigorous real-life test scenarios and through assurance of the systems and solutions.”

Andrew Barrie, Head of Government Services at KBR Ltd, noted: “We are delighted to have been selected by the Home Office to manage this critical communications service. At the heart of this programme is public safety and we look forward to playing our part in the delivery of an enhanced, more flexible, and more affordable communications and data capability, fit for our emergency services in the twenty-first century.”

The ESMCP Delivery Partner role will commence work immediately and is scheduled to run for just over four years. The KBR team combines resources and skills from a range of experts from both the public sector and industry including the emergency services.