---
title: "Provision of a Telecommunications service for the Emergency Services of England, Scotland and Wales"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-030d0f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-030d0f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-030d0f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-030d0f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT - HOME OFFICE (POLICE)"
published: "2022-01-19"
---

# Provision of a Telecommunications service for the Emergency Services of England, Scotland and Wales

Buyer: SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT - HOME OFFICE (POLICE)  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-030d0f

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## Summary

The Home Office, situated in London, has successfully completed the tender process for the "Provision of a Telecommunications Service for the Emergency Services of England, Scotland and Wales." This service falls under the telecommunications services category (CPV 64200000) and is pivotal for emergency communication across the UK. The procurement was initiated due to the critical need for a secure, private communications network, and the contract has been extended until 31 December 2026 to ensure stability during the transition to the new Emergency Services Network (ESN). The method employed was a limited award procedure without prior publication of a competition, due to the unique technical requirements which only the existing supplier, Airwave Solutions Limited, could meet.

This tender presents opportunities for businesses involved in telecommunications and emergency services technology, particularly those that can provide secure communication solutions. Companies specialising in private communications networks, digital radio technology, and integration with public safety systems would find themselves well-positioned to participate in future procurements as the Home Office continues to evolve its service provision. The ongoing developments related to the transition to the ESN may open avenues for additional contracts as new requirements emerge in the public safety sector.

## Notice

Provision of a secure, private communications network providing telecommunications for the emergency services of England Scotland and Wales, also providing the ability for the three emergency services to talk to each other and to other public safety organisations.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Airwave network is the communications system used by the Emergency Services in Scotland, England and Wales, providing digital radio communications along with other functions such as telephony, text messaging and control room communication services. Airwave services are provided by Airwave Solutions Limited under a Home Office Framework Arrangement

Options: The Target National Shut Down Date of December 2026 can be extended at the discretion of the Authority.

### Procurement Information

The Home Office meets the regulation 32 (2) (b) (ii) test as outlined below: The Airwave network is the communications system used by all the emergency services in Scotland, England and Wales. It is a secure private communications network, using land mobile, TETRA - TErrestrial Trunked RAdio technology, which enables the three emergency services to be able to seamlessly talk to each other (interoperate) during major incidents and also enables them to interoperate with other public safety organisations such as for example the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and mountain rescue teams. The Airwave network is a closed proprietary network owned and operated by Airwave Solutions Limited (a Motorola company). It is made available to the emergency services under four key contracts*(Contracts) made pursuant to the Home Office's PFI Framework Arrangement for the Public Safety Radio Communications Service (the FA). The Airwave network is critical national infrastructure (CNI) and Airwave is the only supplier of this network in Great Britain. No other TETRA network exists in GB nor is it possible for an alternative to TETRA to be developed, established and rolled out in the required timescales to ensure continuity of service demands and the technical and security requirements of the Emergency Services. There is no other suitable network in Great Britain that could be used by the emergency services until the new national Emergency Services Network (ESN) is brought into service. The ESN is intended to be the replacement network for the Airwave network and was originally expected to be developed and rolled out in 2022. There have been significant setbacks and delays in the development of the ESN, including the transition from the Airwave network to ESN. Those setbacks mean that the provision of the Airwave network has to be continued in the interim until the ESN is ready and has been fully tested and validated. The continuity and technical requirements necessitate an extension to the Contracts until 31 December 2026. Given that there is no other possible competitor that could provide an equivalent service to Airwave within the required timescales, trying to organise an accelerated competition would incur additional expenses/resources that would not make any difference to the outcome. *The Contracts are between: 1. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Airwave Solutions Ltd in respect of police access to Airwave - Contract value for the four year extension period: PS1,333,700,339 2. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Airwave Solutions Ltd in respect of Fire and Rescue Services access to Airwave - Contract value for the four year extension period: PS141,181,120 3. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Airwave Solutions Ltd for the Ambulance Radio Programme - Contract value for the four year extension period: PS83,947,192 4. The Scottish Ambulance Service Board and Airwave Solutions Ltd in respect of Scottish Ambulance Service access to Airwave - Contract value for the four year extension period: PS 3,091,038 Airwave is CNI and, as such, it must remain in place to ensure continuity and security of emergency service communications until ESN is ready to replace it. Until ESN is brought into service, no alternative or substitute network to Airwave exists nor would it be technically or financially feasible to develop a replacement for the emergency services to use in the meantime. Without Airwave, the emergency services would have no suitable communications network to use. This poses a danger to life for individuals as well as a risk to public safety and/or public security if communications between fire, policy or ambulance personnel broke down or became unreliable. Nb: Continued in additional information section due to character restrictions.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001654-2022 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 19 Jan 2022 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 20 Dec 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,561,919,689 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT - HOME OFFICE (POLICE) |
| Additional buyers | SCOTTISH AMBULANCE SERVICE BOARD; SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE - DHSC; SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT - HOME OFFICE (FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICES) |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 4DF |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | AIRWAVE SOLUTIONS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 32 - Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment
- 64 - Postal and telecommunications services

### Codes

- 32412000 - Communications network
- 64200000 - Telecommunications services

## Release History

- 19 Jan 2022 at 22:45 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001654-2022

## Notice URLs

- https://www.airwavesolutions.co.uk/home/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-030d0f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-030d0f.json.