ESMCP Lot 1 contract awarded

The Home Office has announced the first Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) contract has been awarded today.

Kellogg Brown & Root Limited (KBR) will immediately become the delivery partner for the programme having been successful under Lot 1 of the bidding process.

The ESMCP will see new services replace the existing Airwave Tetra private network, which has almost solely provided voice communications, from mid-2017 as current contracts expire. The new Emergency Services Network (ESN) will use a commercial 4G network to also deliver broadband data services.

Negotiations with the preferred bidders for the remaining contracts – Motorola (Lot 2) and EE (Lot 3) – are continuing and contract awards are expected in the autumn.

KBR will be responsible for transition support, cross-lot integration and user support. This includes: programme management services for cross-lot ESN integration in transition; vehicle installation design and assurance; training support services; and delivery support during the implementation of the ESN.

The company will deliver the programme management and training together with Arup, working alongside Mason Advisory, Piran, MacNellies and Amethyst on other aspects of the programme.

The contract is scheduled to run for just over four and a half years and will be delivered by a team that combines resources and skills from a range of experts from both the public sector and industry including the emergency services that will use the ESN.

Welcoming the progress, Minister for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims, Mike Penning, said: “We are determined that our goal to provide the UK’s emergency services with the best communications network in the world is implemented as quickly as possible and I am delighted that I can now announce we have awarded the first contract. We remain on course to sign further contracts later this year.

“Making sure our emergency services have the best tools to help them do their job is paramount. As well as offering the emergency services much more capacity, flexibility and functionality than the old system, the new network will also save the taxpayer well over £1 billion over the next 15 years.”

KBR is a major international operator specialising in technology-driven engineering, procurement and construction, and is a market leader in the successful programme management and delivery of large infrastructure schemes.

It said revenue associated with this project is estimated to be £30 million.

Andrew Barrie, head of government services for KBR, said: “We are delighted to have been selected by the Home Office to manage the transition of 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 21st century.”