New cellular network visibility tool strengthens emergency services’ operations

New Zealand's emergency services are getting another digital boost to strengthen communication resilience and situational awareness and planning, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell.

The PSN (Public Safety Network) Cellular Network Visibility Service combines data from New Zealand's two biggest mobile network providers, Spark and One NZ, enabling emergency services to quickly see whether mobile network outages will impact their ability to use their mobile devices and apps.

"Our emergency services rely on their mobile phones and other digital devices every day to do their job. Access to cellular networks and fast reliable data is essential for keeping themselves and the public safe.

"This new service is going to be a game changer. It will show our emergency operations centres and planners when and where their operations will be impacted by network outages so they can plan around it. This will be particularly useful for planning operations in extreme weather events we will continue to experience in New Zealand," says Mr Mitchell.

New Zealand is believed to be the first country in the world to have created a service that brings together coverage information from two competing Mobile Network Operators into one service.

The service shows near real-time network coverage and outage information and any planned outages for a period of two weeks.

"The Service proved its worth during a trial earlier this year when Cyclone Tam caused large network outages across Northland.

"Fire and Emergency New Zealand was able to see immediately what impact the network outages would have on their ability to alert and mobilise local volunteers through their app and put in a work-around to communicate with them," Mr Mitchell says.

The new service has been developed by Hourua, a joint venture between Spark and One NZ, for Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC).

It is the third cellular service to be delivered and adds to PSN Cellular Roaming and PSN Cellular Priority Services already in use by emergency services delivered by Next Generation Critical Communications.