To support His Majesty’s Coastguard to carry out its life-saving tasks effectively and provide the public with the reassurance that they can respond to any emergency, the MCA required a new national communication network to connect 163 remote radio sites spanning across 11,000 miles of UK coastline. The new network will replacing the existing legacy infrastructure with a combination of full-fibre and microwave technology. These radio sites carry communications between the national data centres, 10 HM Coastguard Operation Centres and the vessels at sea.
The project to design and build the new network is well underway and will be provided by Telent as a fully managed service to MCA. This will include monitoring and managing end-to-end performance, planning and carrying out maintenance activities and conducting technical changes and updates. The fibre-based network will enable MCA to undertake its own digital transformation, deliver new digital services and communication capabilities, and bring a new edge to the search and rescue work of HM Coastguard.