Mott MacDonald has been appointed as the strategic partner to the Department for Communities and Local Government on its Firelink project to replace all Fire and Rescue Service communications systems throughout England, Wales and Scotland. Our role includes providing project management to the joint client/consultant team, technical lead, writing the output based specification, advising on integration an issue, advising on procurement including making sure it conforms to EU procurement law, and writing documentation such as the SLA. Our project team also provides risk management, supplier negotiation, test and validation and business planning resources.

This project will ensure that the long-term replacement is viable and cost effective and takes into account the various stakeholders’ needs including the individual brigades, end users, CFOA and the Fire Brigades Union. Various digital mobile radio technologies are being considered, including Tetra, Tetrapol and GSM.

A contract was awarded to Telecommunications Company O2 Airwave Ltd in November 2005 to provide a national radio communications system as a fully managed service. Mott MacDonald are working to oversee the rollout of the new service and verifying that it meets specifications.