Motorola wins Canadian emergency comms contract

The Emergency Communications for British Columbia Incorporated (E-Comm) and its partners within the police, fire and ambulance services have selected Motorola Solutions to supply radio infrastructure equipment and services for the planned replacement of the regional emergency communications radio system.

The new system will be based on Motorola Solutions’ ASTRO P25 infrastructure. The contract covers the P25 radio infrastructure equipment and related services and has a fixed-price value of US$23.5 million, excluding taxes.

E-Comm anticipates the new radio system will be fully rolled out across Metro Vancouver and Abbotsford by the end of 2017.

Motorola Solutions was selected following a three-stage competitive procurement process for the supply of radio infrastructure equipment and related services.

The new network design, incorporating enhanced service level and coverage requirements, has been developed by E-Comm, reviewed by Motorola Solutions and endorsed by police, fire and ambulance user representatives. Overall, the initiative is on track, including the launching of a pilot in mid-2015.

With a planned service life of approximately 15 years, the current E-Comm wide-area radio system is used by all police departments and BC Emergency Health Services in metro Vancouver and Abbotsford, in addition to 12 fire departments in metro Vancouver.

More than 8500 radios are in use, generating more than 10 million transmissions each month.