Fire and Rescue New South Wales, NSW, Australia

The organization needed to upgrade its existing end-of-life analog network, while also moving to a new spectrum band in order to comply with recent Australian Communications and Media Authority regulations.

FRNSW engaged with Tait Communications to commence its digital migration program following a technology evaluation, beginning with a pilot network that needed to be deployed before the next bushfire season. Tait Project Manager, Mark Cahill, says, “Implementing pilot networks are an excellent way to reduce business risk as agencies are in a better position to properly assess the technology required before approaching any change.”

Following the pilot phase (stage one), of the seven sites deployed in the Monaro region, Tait, in close collaboration with FRNSW, has since deployed a further six regions (60 sites) for FRNSW and three regions (42 sites) for NSW State Emergency Service (SES). The sites spread across the state, including a Black Spot remediation at one site, and were completed on schedule. Since completion, the new sites have delivered approximately a 20% improvement in coverage compared to analog, with considerably better audio.

"As well as ending up with a new digital network with fewer faults, we now have the ability to monitor the network and report on our service levels, which has resulted in better service to our firefighters," said Paul Barnes, Project Sponsor and Director IT Operations and Communications at FRNSW. "Thanks to the close working relationship with Tait, we were able to complete the project in a manner that realized savings of over $1 million between FRNSW and SES."