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from organisations such as the Highways Agency and the Ministry of Defence. Home Of ce of cials also attend. The aim of the RUG is to share best practices, discuss use of the Airwave Service, and look at future needs and developments. ‘This is a very useful presentation both from a technical and operational perspective. It shows how a large multi-agency response to an incident can impact on Airwave communications,” said Superintendent Nick Hunter, Chair of the North East Regional User Group. “This has highlighted some key learning points which are relevant to all Airwave users. I would recommend a review of any emergency service’s major incident communication plans against these key ndings.” Mark Jones, Airwave’s Head of Business Continuity and Emergency Planning, said: “We would like to thank those who participated in this review for allowing the output to be shared for the bene t of others, both in the Regional User Group sessions and to the wider audience of Reach magazine. We are always willing to develop and host in-depth reviews, and the output will be kept con dential if requested.”

irwave in Australia has been appointed by the New South Wales government to operate and maintain their government radio network (GRN), one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The New South Wales GRN is made up of approximately 160 sites with 30,000 users from 30 government agencies and departments and serves agencies such as the region’s Ambulance, Fire and Rescue and State Emergency services. Airwave was appointed following a competitive tender process undertaken by the New South Wales Telco Authority, who made their decision based upon a range of factors, including the ability to

draw on Airwave’s extensive experience and resources.

Malcolm Keys, CEO of Airwave Australia, said: “The network will be resourced by a team of dedicated staff. The scope of activities includes rst and second level maintenance of equipment on sites, rst level support for network core equipment (network switch) and general network operation and control activities, monitoring and reporting.”

Airwave will take over operations of the network from 1 August 2013, with the transition period already under way.