The Customer

New Zealand Police (NZP) needed to move from a dated nationwide conventional analogue network to a trunked digital solution. Starting with the main urban centres, the goal is for the network to extend across the country. Policing across a massive variety of terrain, the NZP uses an array of vehicle types and co-operates with a wide range of government agencies and other emergency services.

The Challenge

The replacement of a still-live analogue network to a TaitNet trunked P25 network is a substantial challenge.

The introduction of secure radio is a major change to NZP's radio infrastructure and requires a considerable amount of work to both plan and implement. It involves not only replacing the radios which officers use, but also replacing the backbone equipment which runs the NZP radio network nationwide.

The network consisted of 250-300 different VHF sites in the 70 MHz band (490 MHz UHF in the cities) transitioning to a similar number of 140 MHz trunked sites, and 490 MHz trunked sites for cities. Many of these sites are relatively inaccessible, so installation planning and the remote monitoring capability of the TB9100 is important.

The new encrypted digital trunked network means that, in the future, no one will be able to use scanners to find out the intentions or whereabouts of police frontline staff. This will not only increase officer safety, but also increase the security and reliability of NZ Police's radio communications network and give more flexibility for special police operations.

The Solution

A working group comprising Police, Fire, Ambulance, Customs, State Services Commission, Ministry of Economic Development, Fisheries and others earlier selected the P25 standard, under the e-Government Interoperability Framework, as the most suitable for the New Zealand environment.

NZP's specialist groups nationwide were successfully migrated to the new digital network in late 2008. General duties staff in the Wellington region were the next to get secure digital radio in June 2009, followed by Canterbury and Auckland by end of 2010.

The Tait P25 digital radios can successfully communicate in analogue mode, so the Police can migrate to digital at a pace which suits them. The portables and mobiles share the same interface so they are easy to use.

Portables include TP9155s and TP9160s with Intrinsically Safe batteries, intelligent power management and a variety of accessories. The TM9155 mobile radios to be installed in police cars, vans and motorbikes will include a mix of remote, fixed and hand-held control heads.

The Outcome

The new APCO P25 portable radios are also more robust than the current radios being used by Police and have better audio quality with less interference.

Security can be better managed because of the advanced encryption on the TP9155/60 and TM9155s.

The network is simple and open; deploying off-the-shelf components for greater value and ease of support. Project management and Tait-delivered services ensure that milestones are aligned and that return on investment is maximised.

_{* Image courtesy of Hutt News}