UK's national Airwave terminal procurement framework awarded to Motorola and Sepura Motorola Solutions and Sepura are to build a centrally managed procurement framework for the UK's radio network, Airwave. The framework will be managed by the Police ICT Company – which was set up to help manage cops' tech and into which all forces pay an operating fee – but can be used by other public sector entities. It …
Hmm, Motorola aren't doing too badly out of this. The fact that every year that Airwave is extended earns more money than ESN will over the entire contract might make some people think that there could possibly be a conflict of interest?
The next issue - EE's contract to provide runs out at the same time as Airwave ends. What is the realistic chance of that contract being available to competitors at that point - from a practical point of view? Zero?
Any centrally negotiated contracts will flounder for the same reasons at the Police ICT Company as for its ill-fated predecessors of NPIA and PITO.
The 43 county forces will simply wait to the supplier's quarter end/year end and then negotiate a price which uses the central contract as the starting point for price. Commission driven salespeeps will always be happy to do a deal based on guaranteed units with approved funding.
NB the HO wheeze which sold off Airwave was dodgy af. Don't ask me how I know!
NB the HO wheeze which sold off Airwave was dodgy...
Unless my memory has completely let me down the HO never owned Airwave to start with, so I'd be interested to know the basis of your assertion. It was built by O2 using Motorola equipment for the fixed sites with (at the time) portable / mobile terminals being available from Motorola. Sepura, Nokia & Cleartone. The fixed network has had a succession of owners but - as stated above - I don't think the Home Office was ever one of them.
> What's wrong with Airwave anyway?
It's a "dated technology", meaning it has to be replaced by something newer (think MS Office versions), preferentially less user-friendly and more complicated/fragile, requiring nice juicy support contracts.
And you have seen nothing yet - Wait for the government to start implementing the replacement for the now very dated technology of the wheel...
Wait for the government to start implementing the replacement for the now very dated technology of the wheel...
The contract for that will go to the company which offers the cheapest bid, based on a low-cost manufacturing process which eschews costly circular wheels and streamlines the process with simply-fashioned square wheels.
When found to be wholly unsuitable for purpose, they will make a mint out of contract changes, as they evolve the design through various ovals, finally delivering fully round wheels a few weeks before their contract expires and the whole silly charade starts over again.
When Airwave was bought by Motorola just the other year for £816m (ish) it makes you wonder what planet the Home Office are on.
They should have bought it instead, this saving around £300m which is more than the ESMCP project would save them over the same period.
They just seem to be allergic to owning anything in-house these days.
They should have bought it instead, this saving around £300m
Part of me wants to agree with you, but I think you have overlooked the fact that it wouldn't just be a case of CapEx; the Home Office would have had to take over all the Airwave personnel and pay for ongoing support of the network until such time as the ESN actually comes to fruition... if of course that actually happens.
I suspect that Motorola taking it over may be the least worst option, albeit a costly one.
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