The Department of Customer Service’s NSW Telco Authority has delivered 200 new and enhanced Public Safety Network (PSN) radio sites to increase mission-critical communications for first responders.
Announcing the milestone, Minister for Digital and Customer Service, Victor Dominello said that, next to Australia’s triple-zero emergency hotline, the PSN was the most critical communications network in NSW.
Mr Dominello said the Network provided infrastructure that enabled emergency services to communicate over a single, encrypted integrated network.
He said achieving the 200-site milestone meant the PSN would now provide coverage across an area greater than 342,000 km², or 42 per cent of the State, and reach 96 per cent of the population.
“During an emergency, every second counts,” Mr Dominello said.
“By expanding the PSN, we are providing emergency services with the tools, not only to do their job when and where they need to, but also keep them safe,” he said.
“It is good news for the community and for our first responders who go to work every day to protect the people and places of NSW.”
Mr Dominello said that by consolidating multiple separate agency radio networks, the Authority’s Critical Communications Enhancement Program (CCEP) would provide a more efficient, resilient PSN for first responders.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services, David Elliott said many of the locations to receive a new or enhanced radio site were impacted by the 2019-20 bushfires, during which firefighters experienced compromised communication networks that resulted in greater risks to their safety.
