Feb/March 2007

Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust is to introduce O2 Airwave digital communications for its front-line ambulance service in a deal valued at £32 million over the next ten years.

The announcement comes just as a major implementation with Ambulance Trusts in England is coming into use. That contract, announced two years ago, is currently being rolled out to ambulance trusts nationwide; the first to go live this spring is expected to be Essex. The total value of the deal was originally put at £390 million.

O2 is working on the Welsh operation with its partner SunGard Vivista. The contract includes provision of radio terminals, integrated communications control systems for three control rooms, and radios in 827 vehicles, including 454 emergency vehicles and three helicopters. A third of the fleet will have data terminals.

The system will completely replace existing communication resources. Among attractions cited for it are status messaging, alert paging, resource and incident location and mobilisation messaging - all of which are expected to play a part in improving response times.

Another key attraction is the way users can inter-operate on the same radio network during major emergencies. As Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust chief executive Alan Murray puts it: 'The system is already in use with other emergency services and public bodies such as police, fire and Highways Agency, and will provide robust and reliable radio communications to paramedics and ambulance staff across Wales.'

The rollout in Wales has two implementation phases across its three service areas. The first phase starts in April 2007, the second phase follows in June 2007, and both are due to be completed in early 2009.

The O2 Airwave service originated in the TETRA wireless standard (it stands for terrestrial trunked radio), although the term no longer features in the company's promotional material. It can handle both data and voice, and its features also include encryption, resilience and independence of other communications infrastructure - all of which are said to make it highly appropriate to the requirements of the new Civil Contingencies Act.