National organisation for digital and data throughout law enforcement has revealed that incumbent suppliers have been retained to ensure that policing agencies can remain equipped until new network is ready

The Police Digital Service has put in place a six-month extension and added £30m to the value of a national deal for the provision of communications devices to connect with emergency services’ outgoing Airwave network.

The national specialist tech organisation – which is owned by and works on behalf of police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland – has revealed that an incumbent arrangement with handset-maker Sepura and network-operator Motorola Solutions will be lengthened. The deal for “Tetra Airwave terminal products and services” was due to conclude on 31 December of this year, but will now run until 30 June 2027.

According to a newly published commercial notice, the agreement for Tetra handheld voice devices – referring to terrestrial trunked radio – has been extended because the additional time “is required to ensure that public-safety agencies operating under the contract can remain fully operational on the Tetra‑based UK Airwave network until the broadband‑enabled Emergency Services Network (ESN) is ready for deployment”.

The timelines – and costs – of implementing ESN have shifted many times since work began on the programme back in 2011. The most recently available estimate for the overall delivery cost of ESN is about £19.2bn, equating to about three times more than the original figure. The target date for switching off Airwave, meanwhile, is now set at 2029 – a decade later than initially planned.

The costs to the Police Digital Service (PDS) of the incumbent Tetra device deal are also set to increase significantly; the estimated value of the initial four-year term to the end of 2026 was £60m, inclusive of VAT. Alongside the six-month extension, the tech organisation has revealed that the worth of the engagement is also rising to an estimated £90m.

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The newly updated notice reveals that PDS needed to retain the existing suppliers, and not go out to market to invite bids, because “although Tetra is an open international two‑way communication standard… the UK Airwave system employs proprietary encryption and authentication”.

“As a result, only approved suppliers and devices are able to operate on the platform,” the document says. “These stringent interoperability and accreditation requirements impose technical constraints that limit interchangeability or interoperability with the existing installed base. Pursuing such functional equivalence would likely expose the contracting authority, and the wider public safety user community, to substantial additional costs and disruption associated with achieving full certification.”

The notice adds: “This limitation does not indicate that potential new entrants lack the technical capability to satisfy Airwave specifications; however, onboarding any new supplier… or developing a new accreditation pathway would require an extended period of time, likely exceeding the published ESN delivery schedule, currently December 2029. Any new supplier entering the market is highly likely to face the risk of introducing a Tetra‑only product that becomes increasingly obsolete for UK requirements.”

The document explains that the scope of the deal enables forces to access devices and accessories that are accredited for use on both Airwave and ESN.

PDS was established as the Police ICT Company in 2012. Its remit is to help coordinate the purchase and deployment of technology across the sector. It is funded by the Home Office and the forces that jointly own the organisation, encompassing: the 43 local and regional police forces across England and Wales; the Police Service of Northern Ireland; the National Crime Agency; British Transport Police; the College of Policing, and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

PDS is set to be subsumed into a newly created National Police Service, proposals in a recent Home Office whitepaper revealed.