Home Office plans next stage of engagement with ESN suppliers

The Home Office has announced it will be engaging with suppliers on detailed requirements for the new Emergency Services Network (ESN).

A Prior Information Notice (PIN) has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) stating that the Home Office will engage suppliers regarding four separate parts of the contract for the new ESN: user devices, air-to-ground service and devices, vehicle installation and control room upgrades.

Minister of State for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims Mike Penning said: “A modernised communications network is vital to help the emergency services protect the public and save lives. We are on track to deliver this critical part of our national infrastructure by 2017.

“We have seen strong interest in providing the new ESN and its supporting elements. I am confident that the organisations we select will create a communications network that is the best in the world.”

Tenders for the contracts will be submitted in the near future and will then be subject to detailed evaluation. Contracts will be awarded in 2015 and the new ESN will go live from 2017, as existing contracts expire.

The new network is being developed in close partnership with the emergency services and will add broadband data capabilities.