KBR has been selected by the Home Office to act as its Delivery Partner on the £1bn Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP). This programme, to enhance critical emergency services capability and improve public safety, will deliver a replacement communications and data service using 4G technology – the first time this emergency services capability will be fielded at scale on a commercial network anywhere in the world.
Andrew Barrie, Head of Government Services for Kellogg Brown & Root Ltd, said, “We are delighted to have been selected by the Home Office to manage the transition of this critical communications service. At the heart of this programme is public safety and we look forward to playing our part in the delivery of an enhanced, more flexible, and more affordable communications and data capability, fit for our emergency services in the 21st Century.”
The new system, called the Emergency Service Network (ESN), will provide frontline responders with extensive communication and data coverage, high resilience and appropriate security, ensuring that police, fire and rescue and ambulance services along with the other civil contingency authorities are able to protect the public and save lives, even under the most challenging circumstances.
As a provider of support services to the Metropolitan Police, KBR fully understands the unique challenges faced by the emergency services to deliver a 24/7 response to the public 365 days a year and will ensure that it delivers maximum commercial benefit while maintaining operational resilience.
KBR Ltd and Arup will deliver programme management and training working alongside Mason Advisory, Piran, MacNellies and Amethyst on other aspects of the programme.
Work to deliver the new ESN will commence immediately and is scheduled to run for just over four and a half years. The KBR team combines resources and skills from a range of experts from both the public sector and industry including the three emergency services.
Revenue associated with this project is estimated to be £30m and will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR’s Government Services Business Segment in Q3.
Kellogg Brown & Root Ltd, operating from its UK headquarters in Surrey, operates on a global scale working in different sectors delivering diverse and challenging projects.
Negotiations with the preferred bidders for the remaining contracts – Motorola (Lot 2) and EE (Lot 3) are continuing and contract awards are expected in the autumn.
