Airwave - ready for service date

Report: 13
Date: 27 February 2003
By: Clerk

Summary

This report sets out the rationale for having the Airwave service available for MPS use as from 1 October 2003 and recommends that this date be contractually agreed.

A. Recommendation

That the Authority agrees a ready for service date for Airwave of 1 October 2003.

B. Supporting information

1. Under the terms of the Airwave contract, O2 is required to provide and the MPS is required to take the Airwave service in the 4th quarter of 2003. The exact date is the subject of negotiation between the MPA, MPS, PITO and O2 but the Ready For Service (RFS) date triggers payment for core and menu exclusive services. With the support of the others mentioned, O2 have now written to the Authority proposing an RFS date of 1 October 2003. As from that date a monthly revenue payment of £2,500,000 to O2 becomes due but is borne by PITO. The Authority will incur the cost of the menu exclusive service which, at the start of the service, equates to a charge of approximately £110,000 per month. Both of these costs will be met from the SR2000 grant allocated for Airwave by the Home Office. Technically, the Home Office could recover any monies set aside for Airwave payments which remain unused, though they are unlikely to do so.

2. At the outset of the project a date of 15 December 2003 was tentatively proposed as being the latest RFS date acceptable to all parties. As the Airwave project progressed, understanding of what can be achieved by the contractor and what needs to be addressed by the MPS has improved. Much of this has been through the learning from other forces that have already taken the Airwave service and the MPS experience of providing a trunked radio system (Metradio).

3. Over the past year, O2 have demonstrated that they are capable of achieving the earliest RFS date of 1 October for the MPS and within their own plans have been working towards this objective. This has been possible through a significant re-organisation of their approach to the national programme and the introduction of appropriate calibre of staff to address the MPS requirement. A comprehensive review of the O2 Airwave plan for the London region by PITO and subsequently by the MPS airwave project team has concluded that the O2 plan is robust, sustainable and achievable.

4. In examining possible RFS dates the following internal issues and drivers have been taken into account.

• The chief problem other forces, who have already taken the Airwave service, have had to face is insufficient time allowed for the integration of third party equipment, coverage validation in the operational environment and training.
• A key third party deliverable for Airwave is the Integrated Communications Platform (ICP). The current plan shows the delivery of the ICP commencing November 2003. The Airwave service must be taken ahead of this to allow the ICP free access to undertake their installation and commissioning. Therefore the RFS date must be no later than 31 October. This, however, does not allow any leeway between the two activities. Earlier access would allow comprehensive testing of the Airwave Interface and the ICP contractor would have early access for preliminary activities.
• Once an RFS date has been agreed then the risk falls to O2. If they fail to meet the agreed RFS date they have a grace period of four weeks before liquidated damages apply. Damages applied are ½% per week of the monthly total of the core and menu exclusive charge. This would equate to approximately £12,500 per week. These damages are paid directly to the Authority to compensate for delay. It follows that O2 could run four weeks late and not be subject to any financial penalty, apart from not receiving the Core service charge of £2,500,000 even though it could be a significant detriment to MPS project planning and delivery.
• Early access to the service will allow integration and test activities associated with 3rd party systems to start and thereby mitigate associated risks. A lesson learnt from other forces is that adequate time must be given to these activities before launching into operational service. Because of the scale of the project, the MPS demands on the Airwave service are likely to be the most demanding of any force.
• The earliest RFS date affords the project the maximum amount of time for integration and test activities. This is particularly important in the following areas:

1. Coverage testing and special schemes. It is the intention of the project not to contract with O2 for special schemes for specific radio coverage until the results of surveys of the core and enhanced coverage are known, and a clear need established. This relates to sporting stadia and those locations previously identified by BOCUs. This approach will avoid nugatory expense. However, to be able to adopt this approach, surveys must be conducted at the earliest opportunity to cater for the lead times detailed by O2 in Schedule 6 of the contract for special schemes. This period is twelve months between identifying the requirement to it being provided. This raises particular difficulties in respect of stadia, as surveys and remedial action will need to be completed by mid-May 2004 if they are to be carried out under match conditions with populated stadia. Failure to do this will give misleading results. O2 have indicated in the case of stadia they would seek to reduce the lead time based on the following criteria

• that identification of the requirements is established as soon as possible after 1 October 2003 following surveys conducted by the MPS
• that sign off to proceed with any surveys is done in a timely manner from the identification of the requirements
• that sign off of the schemes required is also carried out in a timely manner to allow Airwave implementation to be carried out to meet testing prior to end of May 2004.

2. BOCU Coverage. A number of areas within BOCUs will also need to be surveyed to determine whether special coverage schemes are required and applying the 12 month lead time then work would need to start in October 2003 in order to meet C3i migration timescales.
3. Significant work is required around data services and early connectivity to the data gateways will allow maximum time for development testing and system integration.

5. In summary, for operational and contractual reasons the RFS date must fall during October 2003. There are no direct financial implications for the Authority if RFS is at the start or end of the month but an RFS date of 1 October 2003 will mitigate the threats to project planning and operational implementation. The integration of Airwave is critical to the successful implementation of C3i. If approved, the commitment will be signed off by the Clerk.

C. Equality and diversity implications

None.

D. Financial implications

As set out in body of report.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Keith Dickinson, MPA

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback