Proactive release of papers relating to Next Generation Critical Communications: Public Safety Network Implementation Business Case

The Next Generation Critical Communications Lead Entity (NGCC), Poutama Whai Tikanga Pāpāho, is the government’s leading advisor on critical communications for public safety in New Zealand.

NGCC is governed by an Independent Board, chaired by Rob Fyfe and comprising Agency Chief Executives and independent stakeholders. NGCC is currently a hosted business unit within New Zealand Police.

The Public Safety Network is the new communications service that will be used by New Zealand's frontline emergency services responders - Fire and Emergency, Police, St John and Wellington Free Ambulance.

The goal in creating a new secure digital communications network is to make New Zealand’s emergency services staff, volunteers, and the public, safer.

The Public Safety Network will:

• improve emergency communication network resilience
• provide secure emergency communications
• simplify sharing of operational information
• increase emergency communications coverage
• enable innovation and improved operational responses

Existing analogue radio networks will be replaced with a single nationwide secure digital radio service, and multi-network priority cellular broadband capability - including voice, video, messaging and data - in urban, state highway and rural areas commonly accessed by frontline emergency services. Secure digital radio will provide voice and messaging services in many areas where cellular service is not available.

In April 2020, Cabinet approved a request to go to market to procure the products and services required to deliver a Public Safety Network.

This work has now been completed through a robust, comprehensive RFP (Request for Proposal) process that engaged across the emergency communications industries both within NZ and internationally.

Cabinet has now approved an Implementation Business Case for the Public Safety Network that enables NGCC (Next Generation Critical Communications) to execute contracts with two preferred New Zealand based vendors.

1. Tait Kordia JV CO Limited (a joint venture between Tait Communications and Kordia) for Digital Land Mobile Radio
2. Hourua Consortium (a joint venture between Spark New Zealand and Vodafone New Zealand) for Priority Cellular Services

The PSN includes:

Digital Land Mobile Radio (LMR) - a digital radio network built with sufficient resilience to enable emergency services to communicate even in the event of a significant natural disaster. LMR supports push to talk communications which are used extensively by emergency services, provides location services, and is encrypted and secure.

Priority Cellular Services – improves existing cellular network coverage resilience through a multi-network solution that allows emergency services to roam across Spark and Vodafone/two New Zealand mobile networks. Emergency communications will take priority over other mobile users on cellular networks when the networks are congested or degraded.

Personal Alerting – personal alerting service for FENZ, Wellington Free Ambulance and St John provided over a stabilised nationwide paging network which is critical for emergency responses in remote communities supported by volunteers.

The PSN will be the most significant advancement in public safety communications in New Zealand in decades.

The following papers have been produced by Next Generation Critical Communications. Further information can be found on www.ngcc.govt.nz

Key sections of the Official Information Act under which information has been withheld

Certain information in the documents has been withheld under one or more of the following sections of the Official Information Act 1982:

• Information is withheld under section 9(2)(a) to protect the privacy of natural persons
• Information is withheld under section 9(2)(b)(ii) to protect information that would be likely to prejudice commercially sensitive information.
• Information is withheld under section 9(2)(c) to avoid prejudice to measures protecting the health or safety of members of the public.
• Information is withheld under section 9(2)(f)(iv) in order to maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which protect the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials.
• Information is withheld under section 9(2)(g)(i) in order to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions.