UK Coastguard deploys full-fibre network to enhance operations

A £175m communications network connecting 163 remote radio sites across 11,000 miles of UK coastline – one of the UK’s largest private broadband networks – is now operational to ensure that His Majesty’s (HM) Coastguard’s effective frontline emergency response continues for thousands of distress calls from the UK’s waters.

Stretching from the Shetland Islands to the Isles of Scilly, the deployment is part of the investment by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) in the Radio Network Infrastructure Replacement Programme (RNIR).

An Executive Agency of the Department for Transport, the MCA is tasked with preventing loss of life on the coast and at sea. It produces legislation and guidance on maritime matters and provides certification to ships and seafarers. As well as delivering maritime search and rescue through HM Coastguard (one of the four UK emergency services), the MCA is responsible for maritime regulation, safety and counter-pollution.

For its part, HM Coastguard provides the frontline emergency response for thousands of incidents every year, coordinates all maritime search and rescue (SAR) operations in the UK through a network of coastguard stations, operating 24 hours a day.

Staff in operations rooms coordinate the response to a variety of incidents from lost or missing people to climbers stuck on cliffs or vessels missing at sea. It receives requests for assistance in many forms including 999 calls, mayday and pan-pan broadcast, calls on VHF DSC and Channel 16 and satellite distress calls.

“The national radio network is integral in supporting our mission of preventing the loss of life on the coast and at sea, enhancing our ability to respond to emergencies across the UK,” said HM Coastguard assistant chief coastguard Matthew Leat.

First installations of the new network, combining full-fibre and microwave technology, began in December 2020 through a 10-year contract with technology partner Telent helping to design, build, install and operate 1,220km of new infrastructure for HM Coastguard. The remote radio sites cover the whole of the UK coastline, spanning Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England. Lee-on-the-Solent, Crystal Palace, Humber, Bridlington and Brighton Marina were among the first sites switched to the new search and rescue radio network.

The upgraded full-fibre connectivity is set to deliver improvements, such as greater bandwidth and security, along with enhanced performance and improved reliability. Now that the 1,220km of new infrastructure has been installed connecting all 163 remote radio sites Telent is providing a fully managed service. As part of this, Telent is monitoring and managing the end-to-end performance, undertaking maintenance activities and implementing technical updates.

“The new network provides a firm foundation for the MCA’s potential future and new technology services and projects that only the high performance of a full-fibre network can support,” said Telent CEO Jo Gretton.

“The reliable digital connection and the improved resilience provided by the new network will aid HM Coastguard’s life-saving search and rescue operations for years to come with Telent on hand to provide its critical expertise. Having first begun working together in 2010, maintaining radio equipment at the remote radio sites and delivering additional support services, Telent and MCA’s relationship has moved from strength to strength.”