Vic govt prepares for upgrade to emergency services comms

Motorola Solutions will upgrade Victoria’s Metropolitan Mobile Radio (MMR) network to support a range of new features including enhanced data services and GPS and location services.

The company today announced that it had been awarded a $261 million, five-year extension to its managed services contract with Partnership Victoria, with an option for a further five-year extension.

The network is employed by Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade.

Motorola Solutions said it would trial its “software-defined” push-to-talk offering, which could offer broadband access to the network.

As part of the upgrade to the MMR network, Motorola Solutions said that the state public safety authorities will be provided a “strategic interface” to their Triple Zero emergency call and dispatch systems.

The digital radio network first began operation in 2005.

“For the past 13 years the MMR network has provided essential communications for Victoria’s first responders when they have needed it most,” said Motorola Solutions vice president and managing director, Steve Crutchfield.

“This includes uninterrupted coverage during Victoria’s tragic Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 and reliable performance during many other major emergencies.”

According to Victoria’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, the network, which covers the greater metropolitan of Melbourne, comprises more than 8000 portable and vehicle radio sets and relies on a backhaul network that includes more than 70 base stations.

Earlier this year Motorola Solutions detailed plans to incorporate a range of new and emerging technologies into its public safety communications portfolio, including artificial intelligence, speech recognition and augmented reality.