Motorola upgrades Vic emergency network

The Victorian government has awarded Motorola Solutions with an $AU130 million contract to upgrade and extend the management of Victoria’s Metropolitan Mobile Radio (MMR) network.

The network is part of the Victorian Government’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA). The contract represents a four year extension of the relationship with Motorola with an option to extend for a further two years from July 2016.

Motorola Solutions originally signed a seven-year contract with the Victorian Government in 2004 to design, build and manage the MMR network, helping three agencies to communicate across their then incompatible systems while significantly enhancing coverage across the greater Melbourne metropolitan area.

The new agreement will see Motorola Solutions enhance the network with the current software and radio equipment upgrades, ensuring that it future proofs the network throughout and beyond the contract period. The MMR network utilises P25 open standard radio communications technology, underpinned by Motorola Solutions’ highly resilient design to ensure required performance levels.

“The MMR network was the first build-own-operate private-public partnership undertaken by any state government in Australia from an emergency services perspective, and the extension of this contract is further validation of its success as a best-practice model,” said Ken Shymanski, CEO, Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, Victoria Government.