The Scottish fire and rescue services are to follow the
rest of the UK and take up the Firelink communications network from
O2 Airwave.
Scottish fire and rescue crews will adopt Firelink over the next
three years, said the Scottish Executive. The total £350m cost of
the system is being shared by fire authorities in England, Wales
and now Scotland.
The system is compatible with the Airwave radio system already
used by police and ambulance services across the UK. Scottish
justice minister Cathy Jamieson said Firelink would replace “a
patchwork of ageing systems with a modern, digital system”.
Firelink is a wide area communications system that provides
voice and data links between command and control facilities and
vehicles in the field. Links can also be established with mobile
handsets.
Police forces were the first to sign up for Airwave, followed by
the ambulance service.
