Comms commitment — NSW’s 10-year plan

The NSW Government last month published a 10-year plan, the Operational Communications Strategy, which aims to enhance agency frontline telecommunications capabilities in NSW.

Developed by the NSW Telco Authority in consultation with relevant agencies, the strategy is intended to streamline operational communications resources and harness innovative technology, enabling agencies, including emergency services, to deliver better services.

“Communications are an essential part of critical frontline services," Minister for Finance, Services and Property Dominic Perrottet said in a statement on 1 December.

“In everything we do, the NSW Government is committed to making better use of existing resources, and taking advantage of the best technology available, to deliver the high levels of service the people of NSW expect," he said.

“This strategy establishes a clear roadmap to ensure the communications networks that service our critical frontline agencies are highly effective and ready for the future."

Historically, more than 70 NSW agencies have separately built, owned and operated their own dedicated communications networks. Under the strategy, agency operational communications resources will move to an integrated model, delivering a common platform that reduces duplication and improves utilisation of existing infrastructure.

The government says the strategy will improve the communications reach of frontline agencies, while at the same time delivering a significant reduction in maintenance costs. It also establishes a pathway to incorporating the latest mission-critical communications technology for voice, video and data transmission.

Further efficiencies are expected by making better use of private sector service providers, with a streamlined, coordinated approach to market engagement to be adopted across agencies in meeting their operational communications needs.

The authority is currently working closely with relevant agencies to develop a range of implementation options, to be considered by government in the first quarter of 2016.

An ambitious endeavour

“The future of operational communications, the technology relied upon by our emergency services and law enforcement officers along with thousands of other essential service providers across government promises exciting new tools that will change how government provides services to the community," said Minister Perrottet in the planning document's foreword.

“As we move towards more widely distributed and reliable mobile broadband communication systems, there are more opportunities for our frontline workers to communicate across agencies, access critical information in the field and respond with more agility."

He went on to say that the “shared vision for the future is one where seamless communications are offered to agencies anytime, anywhere. Communication channels are no longer a series of independent networks, the service is more extensive, available on a range of devices and interoperable between agencies."

Importantly, the minister said that delivering these new services will require significant reform of the sector.

“This strategy sets out how we will unite the disparate networks that currently exist and use effective partnerships drawing on the best that industry has to offer to meet our needs," he said. “We will utilise our investment in smarter ways to deliver better, more cost-effective services to our personnel and the community of NSW."

“This is an ambitious strategy, with an anticipated 10-year view spanning into new technologies that hold great promise but are not yet ready to meet the rigorous demands placed on them by public safety agencies," the minister added.

“There will be significant moments during the strategy's life span when we must assess whether the new environment is ready to provide the mission-critical services we demand.

“This strategy is not a static document, marking a single moment in time. It provides the foundation for immediate benefits and it will need to be continually examined and evolved as the sector, technologies and markets evolve."

The chairman of the NSW Telco Authority, Rod Gilmour, added that the “service delivery model blends private and public sector ownership and service delivery. The private sector has a wealth of expertise, assets and resources that can be further leveraged by government.

“We can learn much from their experience and collaborate more closely to ensure we get the best services, the best value and the best results for NSW," he said.

Harnessing knowledge

The strategy — available on the Telco Authority's website at telco.nsw.gov.au — states that NSW “will no longer have independent radio networks owned and operated by various government agencies. Instead, we will harness the expertise that exists across agencies and make better use of the resources of private industry in order to provide reliable, secure and innovative solutions to our frontline personnel."

The strategy “aims to maximise benefits that the sector can realise from greater use of shared infrastructure, services and platforms, while providing appropriate flexibility for agencies to develop solutions and services that are unique and specific, such as SCADA systems for monitoring and control of remote equipment. It also aims to get the best value out of these assets by seeking industry expertise to utilise spare capacity effectively and generate a return for the NSW community."

It also acknowledges that this is a time of unprecedented technological change in the telecommunications sector. The strategy “acknowledges this environment and sets out a series of shorter term activities that deliver immediate results and creates a foundation for the future. It builds on the planned and coordinated approach to investment in these critical services to ensure that our capabilities can continue to evolve in line with technology, allowing frontline workers to best meet the needs of the NSW community."

The strategy has four key initiatives:

1. To produce one, integrated portfolio through removing duplication and fragmentation by managing assets, resources and services as a single, integrated, efficient portfolio.
2. To shape a competition by driving an effective and mature service market that meets sector requirements.
3. To produce an evolved critical communications capability by developing a resilient and secure communications capability for the sector that supports existing mission-critical voice as well as new video- and data-based services.
4. To create a shared intelligence capability that enables public safety agencies to access targeted, timely and relevant information from a variety of government, community and industry sources.

Among the benefits expected to flow from the strategy are:

• A simpler, integrated operational communications capability that is more reliable, provides coverage in more areas, allows communication across agencies and is less expensive to operate.
• Significant reduction in the cost of delivering land mobile radio services to public safety agencies.
• Improved safety and service to the public by equipping field operatives and frontline staff with real-time information.
• Improved safety to frontline staff and community volunteers through better, more robust mobile communications.
• More opportunities for industry to engage with government for supply and operation of critical communications, providing innovation, jobs and economic growth to NSW.
• Releasing value from existing assets through sale of excess capacity and duplicate infrastructure.
• Lower risk and improved decision-making for government through greater visibility of operational results.
• Reduced government reliance on asset ownership and a focus on strategic commissioning to support contestability and market testing of existing services.

Partnering with industry

The strategy's new operating model defines close interaction between the NSW Telco Authority, industry and NSW Government agencies in the protection of the community and delivery of essential services.

In the future state, the NSW Telco Authority will focus on planning and governance of an integrated portfolio of assets and services on behalf of government. Agencies will be transformed from being builders, owners and operators of communications infrastructure to being consumers of services, better able to specify what they need.

Industry will play an important role in the provision of services to government, ensuring that the right services are available when required by agency staff. Industry experts will be encouraged to provide information and advice on national and international trends regarding technology development and offerings.

The strategy says that communication services will be delivered through a single, integrated environment rather than a series of independent agency specific networks. This platform will not only support the delivery of existing, critical services such as voice between agency staff, but will also allow for information to be exchanged and shared through high-speed applications such as video and data. Importantly, it will be highly robust, ensuring that agency staff remain connected at all times.

The future communications service will also be available at more locations than ever before. As radio networks are rationalised, optimised and integrated, coverage is significantly increased. This shared network footprint is further expanded as the environment is integrated with commercial networks for non-mission-critical needs and then augmented further to allow for a robust, mission-critical mobile broadband capability to be efficiently commissioned. New and emerging technologies allowing for rapid and mobile deployments of enhanced capability will be incorporated into the suite of tools to be leveraged.

The communications services will be centrally monitored with a consistent approach to field-based maintenance and applied across all government assets, allowing public safety agencies to focus on their core business of protecting the community and delivering essential services.

In terms of technology, this platform will no longer be based on bespoke solutions but rather will utilise standards-based, commoditised technology, readily available in the marketplace. This will ensure that new technology will only be adopted once it has been proven, which will secure availability of a range of user devices at the lowest cost. With industry participation, end devices may also be managed as a fleet, reducing the overall need for holding duplicate sets of spares across multiple agencies.

Interoperability will be a key feature of the future state communications environment. Public safety agencies and essential services providers will be able to communicate freely on the evolved platform. Personnel from outside the state, who are responding to emergencies within NSW, will also be able to use their existing devices, allowing seamless roaming between jurisdictional networks and faster incident response.

The strategy says that with “its collective buying power, strategic relationships and enduring capability, the government will be able to influence the market and commission highly contestable services when required by agency users. Strategic assets will be leveraged to ensure that the NSW Government continues to be able to access competitive services from the market."

It goes on to say that the government “will proactively engage with industry partners to collaborate, innovate and solve problems, including sharing collective roadmaps and strategies".

Five steps to success

The strategy outlines five 'key enablers' that will be needed to make the project a success. They are:

1. Strategic commissioning.
2. Critical spectrum availability.
3. Focused sector capability.
4. Supporting legislation.
5. Sustainable funding.

The strategy says that the government “will pursue open, contestable and diverse delivery models and systems, making the best use of available resources both now and in the long term… [seeking] to source services from markets where there is strong competition, innovation and a superior service offering and retaining the capability to intervene where the market fails to deliver a robust, economical solution".

It adds that the outcomes of the Public Safety Mobile Broadband inquiry, currently being undertaken by the Commonwealth, will be critical in terms of government's access to spectrum, the market dynamics the government will face and what strategic commissioning alternatives will be available to it.

The sector “has developed a wealth of operational communications expertise within multiple agencies. However, as this expertise resides within individual agencies, it not easily accessed to help tackle the new challenges of rapid technology change and support a more integrated approach."

Rather than sector-wide improvement in all capabilities across agencies, the strategy calls for “greater focus and specialisation, and augmentation with industry expertise. The strategy will get the right expertise in the right areas, creating centres of excellence."

Legislation and funding

The strategy says that a legislative environment that reflects the strategic direction determined by the NSW Government and outlines roles and responsibilities is required to ensure successful delivery of the strategy.

Future legislation will support the following:

• The role of the NSW Telco Authority Board is to advise government on the development and evolution of the whole of government strategy and governing the NSW Telco Authority to ensure its delivery.
• Defining and confirming the role of the NSW Telco Authority to lead delivery of the strategy for the NSW Government.
• Allowing for NSW Government operational communications assets to be managed as an integrated portfolio, including vesting in some cases.
• Allowing the NSW Telco Authority to release value in the spare capacity of strategic assets.

Finally, the strategy calls for making the best use of industry expertise, through strategic commissioning of services, as well as with measured investment in strategic infrastructure and technology. The integrated approach provides opportunities for considerable avoided cost over the current model. This will change the historic approach of agencies requesting agency-specific capital allocations for these investments.

Adapted from information issued by the NSW Government.