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    HomeInsightsCogent and Airwave both still in hunt for Firelink radio contract

    Cogent and Airwave both still in hunt for Firelink radio contract

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    Cogent Defence and Security Networks, the UK operating company of EADS Defence and Communications System (DCS), has been added to the shortlist to provide the network for Firelink — the new communications system for the UK Fire and Rescue Service.

    The government contract, to be awarded later this year, will provide the UK Fire and Rescue Service with its first national wide-area radio network by the end of 2007.
    “A second national network will provide the UK with a highly resilient and secure network, providing absolute redundancy in case of existing network failure,” commented Philippe Meleard, director public safety at Cogent.
    O2 Airwave, the Tetra based network provider that is supplying digital radio connectivity to UK police and ambulance services, is also on the shortlist to add the fire service to that list.
    In an update on Airwave the company said that 50,000 police officers are now using the network, with that figure set to double in the next 12 months as the system nears its dues completion date of mid-2005.