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23 June 2004
Dear Dr Levy,
As a tax payer in this country I wondered if I could ask for your comments regarding the recent articles that appeared in Computing magazine, The Times on 17th June and in the Financial Section of the Mail on Sunday on 20th June.
In summary the Times article says that the £2.9 billion police radio network designed to allow the emergency services to stay in touch is not working properly according to a three month investigation that has recently been concluded. Officers, wireless software designers and radio technicians are quoted as saying that the Airwave system is the most expensive in the world but that it provides only limited access to police computer systems and has patchy coverage. Some forces have apparently been reduced to carrying their old analogue radios and mobile phones in addition to the new digital handsets. Others face multimillion-pound bills to upgrade their systems. It also quotes Computing magazine as stating that data transmission speeds, crucial for accessing fingerprints and pictures, fall far short of those promised.
The Mail article goes along the same lines with quotes from the Northumbria Police Authority including ‘It was originally envisaged that Airwave would be the primary mechanism for carrying mobile data, but the capacity for data is much lower than expected and not suitable for all mobile services.’
This seems to go against some of the reasons you and others have put forward in justifying the choosing and installation of the Tetra system.
The hardest thing to take is that is it being suggested that there may be a need to double the number of masts required to give full coverage. This alongside the increasing public fears about the potential health problems associated with the current requirement of masts, fears we still cannot get a categoric statement about.
I have been told by mmO2 in the past that 3,000 to 3,500 radio base stations throughout England, Scotland and Wales will be necessary to give the required high geographical coverage needed. They also stated that Sussex Police, along with other police forces in the country, identified the geographic coverage required to ensure it has the necessary communications for effective policing. Have Sussex Police got it so wrong or did the Government? If the original specifications were wrong, how come mmO2, as the experts in mobile technology, let alone your own advisers didn’t spot the problem at the contact/tender stage?
It would also appear that the UK is not the only country likely to have problems with this system.
‘From the Netherlands: C2000 Tetra Network
From recent contact with the Dutch Police Officers (March 2004), the Tetra network in the area of Amsterdam is in a strict pilot phase. Due to multipath interferences, software instability, hieratic black-out on the network varying from 40 minutes to 8 hours, the TETRA radios are not used in nominal mode. The old legacy system is remaining the primary radio network.
It was reported that Police Officers refused to use the radio because of health concerns. The emergency services (Fire Brigades and Ambulances) did some trials but are not using it for mission critical operations.’
As you know, there are campaigners, some I know personally, who have been suggesting for some time that the system will not deliver what was promised, might soon be obsolete, and could potentially be a huge waste of public money. Could those same campaigners also be right about the perceived health risks? If so, I would struggle to find words to describe how big a disaster this whole project could be.
I look forward to your comments.
Yours sincerely,
Vivienne Coleshill (Mrs)
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