Emergency Services Network was supposed to have replaced existing Airwave system by 2020
A new 999 emergency service communication network will not be fully operational until the 2030s – more than a decade late and at least £3bn over budget, The Telegraph can reveal.
The Emergency Services Network (ESN) was supposed to have replaced the existing “walkie-talkie” style Airwave system for police, fire and ambulance services in England, Scotland and Wales by 2020.
The Home Office, responsible for implementing the new system, has claimed it will mean quicker response times as it will be based on a 4G network. It will also enable officers to use smartphones to access data such as videos and images in an instant.
But in a briefing to industry insiders, senior Home Office officials admitted that the “mass transition” of emergency services, including police, to the new system would not be completed until mid-2030.
Even that, they said, was an “ambitious” condensing of the transition timeline from 30 to 18-21 months, meaning the final full operational deployment of the system could be delayed until 2031.
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