Overbudget and behind schedule, UK's Emergency Services Network reaches 500th base station milestone

Britain's troubled Emergency Services Network (ESN) hit a major milestone today with the completion of its 500th base station. Located in the Scottish tourist hotspot of Glencoe, the site will provide emergency services personnel with 4G-based data and calls using the 800MHz spectrum. Although EE's network covers much of the …

[Red Ted]

Coverage

The 95% coverage is of population and the 97% coverage is geographic, so that an awful lot of base stations to build in the middle of nowhere to make that apparent 2% change.

[Sloppy Crapmonster]

Re: Coverage

What kind of moron would get themselves into a dire situation where there wasn't any cell phone service? They should just die in shame where they are instead of making the rest of us pay for the ability to reach them.

Selfish bastards.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Coverage

What, like at my house?

[Captain Scarlet]

Re: Coverage

I think you missed off the troll icon

[wyatt]

I was in Lincolnshire last week, there was quite a bit of tune I had no 4G signal (I'm on EE). Itd be interesting to know of the areas I was in had a usable Airwave signal.

I think most forces have now accepted they need to buy new handsets, I think the HO had a grant available for this recently.

[MatthewSt]

Assuming EE are allowed to broadcast normal service on their subsidised masts then it would appear not! Government could have solved 2 problems with some joined up thinking here, and made it so that the masts were available for all networks. That would involve them working for the common good rather than the pork barrel though

[Glen 1]

Sort of like OpenReach for mobile?

I mean, the principle is sound, but historically, you have politicians flip flopping between nose-in-the-trough pork-barrel spending and cut-everything-except-their-own-wages spending.

[JetSetJim]

Ha. Nice one. It's Huawei gear, so expect the ban-hammer to be extended beyond 5g soon, and it will all go very pear-shaped

[Danny 2]

It's worth bearing in mind that there are geographical technical problems in mountainous areas like Glencoe compared to flat rural areas like Norfolk. I'll be impressed if the Glencoe coverage reaches the peaks of the three sisters.

Gee up ma Cuddy

Ma cuddy is ower the dyke;

If ye touch ma cuddy,

Ma cuddy'll gie ye a bite

[JetSetJim]

At least it's on 800MHz, which should have decent reach. Depends on how well it bounces round the rocks to reach the nooks and crannies

[Anonymous Coward]

The EE network in the picture here

The EE network in the picture here for the future ESN... is that the EE that's owned by BT? That's presumably the BT that are mentioned in the article for their ownership of the previous network, but not mentioned for the one yet to be delivered? Or is that a misunderstanding of the situation?

Just askin' - we wouldn't want BT to miss out on any taxpayers money, would we.

[Anonymous Coward]

There is one possible good to come out of ESN: In areas where the present mobile phone coverage (any network) is poor, Parish Councils (PCs) have made it a planning grant condition for any new infrastructure that EE's new incoming 4G for ESN is also made available to everyone else - notionally, at least. I would agree that PCs would probably have been rolled over anyway - but you cannot say they did not try.....