Station End PSTN Upgrade

Location

Description

To maintain resilience in mobilising fire crews and appliances from station end equipment, it is essential to upgrade the existing PSTN modems to 4G routers. This upgrade is required due to BT's announcement that analogue PSTN lines will begin decommissioning from December 2025. While this timeline may be extended by a few years, the risk to operational reliability remains significant. Supplier - Telent Technology Services Limited Contract Value -£176,515.46 plus VAT

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• None found

Legal Justification

Required to be compatible with an existing asset. A successful proof of concept was previously conducted using Cheshire's CradlePoint routers connected to Police HQ. However, NWFC has since worked with Telent & IT Services to develop a more resilient solution, hosting central routers directly at NWFC. This configuration offers improved resilience and complete segregation from the CFRS network, ensuring continued operation even if a station loses network connectivity or the link between Police HQ and NWFC fails. Telent, who currently supports both the Multitone CCPs and NWFC infrastructure, is uniquely positioned to implement the necessary changes at both ends of the connection. No other supplier can fulfil this requirement due to the integrated nature of the systems. An alternative approach was considered, where Telent would handle configuration under the existing support contract and CFRS would procure routers separately via InSight. However, CradlePoint confirmed that licensing constraints prevent Telent from managing routers not purchased through them.

Other Information

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