EE and Motorola confirmed as ESN suppliers by Home Office

Mobile network operator (MNO) EE and mobile services supplier Motorola Solutions have been confirmed as the winning bidders to provide the UK’s emergency services with a resilient, national 4G long term evolution (LTE) mobile network, replacing the existing private terrestrial trunked radio (Tetra) system.

The award of the contracts to supply Lots 2 and 3 of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) was something of a formality. EE had been the only bidder on Lot 3 since O2 dropped out of the running over the summer of 2015, saying that uncertainty over its future meant it could not deliver the best possible bid. HP’s withdrawal from Lot 2 left Motorola as the only supplier in the running to deliver the user services systems integration, management and support contract.

Lot 1, covering programme management services for cross-lot integration in transition, vehicle installation design and assurance, training support services and delivery support during the implementation of the ESN, was awarded to Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) in August 2015.

ESN will cover 30,000 users in the blue light sector, enabling many services to benefit from 4G voice and data services for the first time.

However, the wider ESMCP procurement process has been a source of much controversy for more than a year. The Home Office was heavily criticised for ditching the Tetra system in favour of comparatively untested 4G LTE technology, and was accused of putting lives at risk should the new network not come up to scratch.

Incumbent operator Airwave – which was dropped from the process in February 2015 – has taken the Home Office to court over the procurement of Lot 3. It claims that it was not given equal treatment under the relevant procurement laws, although it has subsequently U-turned on part of its injunction, which caused the overall proves to be temporarily suspended.

An EE spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing court case at the time of writing.