London 2012 Olympics receives £39m Airwave boost

Airwave radios will support Olympic policing

The Home Office is spending £39m to boost the capacity of the Airwave radio system to enable emergency services to cope with the 2012 Olympics and a major incident while maintaining "business as usual" services in and around London.

The contract between Airwave Solutions and the National Policing Improvement Agency covers core communications for the police, fire and ambulance services, including additional policing requirements during Olympics events, coverage within Olympics venues, and capability to support public order operations involving several thousand police officers in a confined geographical area.

Security minister Lord West said: "Investing now means the Airwave network system can be thoroughly tested before 2012 and will ensure it remains resilient during Games time."

The expansion to the radio communication system will extend to all 2012 host venue police forces, fire and ambulance services as well as other counties which are hosting 2012 events or athletes' training camps.

"An effective radio system is vital to the delivery of a safe and secure 2012 Games,” said Chris Alison, Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner responsible for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"The investment in the Airwave system is a significant step in achieving this aim and will benefit all emergency services."

Airwave chief executive Richard Bobbett said the contract required a number of innovations from a technical and network management point of view.

The 2012 Games is expected to be the most technology-enabled Olympics ever, and thousands of wireless applications will be needed to support the events, security, athletes, TV cameras, administration and management during the seven weeks covering the build-up, the Games themselves and the subsequent Paralympics.

Ofcom last month published a Spectrum Plan detailing how radio frequencies will be made available to organisers and users from more than 150 countries to ensure services such as Airwave will not be affected by the volume of wireless services required.