Telco Authority highly commended in NSW Resilient Australia Awards

The NSW Telco Authority’s Critical Communications Enhancement Program (CCEP) has been highly commended in the Government category of the NSW Resilient Australia Awards, having successfully reached the finals of the state awards.

The national Resilient Australia Awards, managed by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, are a program to celebrate, share and promote initiatives that build and foster community resilience to disasters and emergencies. Submissions are typically judged in their own state or territory, and jurisdictional winners are considered for the national awards.

Through the $1.4 billion CCEP, the NSW Government is expanding and enhancing the state’s Public Safety Network (PSN) to be one of the largest public safety radio networks of its kind in the world, covering 99.7% of the NSW population. Next to Australia’s triple zero emergency hotline, the PSN is the most critical communications network in NSW, fielding an average of around 1.3 million radio communications calls per month.

The network provides two-way communications for frontline emergency services and other network users, meaning agencies can connect with each other on a single shared network that will:

• increase the sharing of information during emergencies such as floods and fires;
• improve service levels for customers;
• improve responses to communities affected by disasters and critical incidents;
• allow for connection to networks in other states; and
• allow for new communication technologies.
   

The NSW Telco Authority has already delivered more than 360 new and enhanced radio communications sites as part of the CCEP. Managing Director Kylie De Courteney said the network expansion is the biggest investment in critical communications infrastructure by the NSW Government in a generation.

“The NSW Government is investing $1.4 billion to expand the PSN to better protect communities, including delivering 675 new and enhanced radio communications sites,” De Courteney said.

“During an emergency every second counts, and the new radio sites will make it easier for our local emergency services to communicate when it matters most.”

The full list of NSW Resilient Australia Awards winners is available here. The national awards are being presented this afternoon in Perth; to register for the livestream, click here.

Image credit: iStock.com/baona