Managing Director's statement
It's been a momentous year for Airwave.
A message from Peter Richardson, Managing Director, O2 Airwave
In March we completed the roll-out of our service to the 51 police forces of England, Wales and Scotland, on time and within budget.
A network of some 3,300 masts, all of which have now been built, underpins Airwave. This provides seamless national radio coverage, even in remote areas or places where other communications systems do not function well or at all.
We are proud of this achievement and believe the Airwave service will provide greater public safety, a view that has been endorsed by our customers, the Government and the police.
Other users include the Highways Agency, the Ministry of Defence police and some fire and ambulance services. We are determined to win further business, notably with the ambulance and fire services across England, Wales and Scotland, to offer all the main emergency services complete inter-operability.
Understanding our customers is a key business objective and an important responsibility.
We are focused on making sure we give our existing customers a level of service that meets the exacting needs of emergency services organisations. Recognising and understanding the concerns of communities is essential too.
Airwave has always aimed to take a responsible approach, but we face a number of issues, particularly public concerns about mast location and the terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) technology we use to ensure secure national coverage.
Current evidence suggests that it is unlikely that the special features of the signal from TETRA terminals and repeaters pose a hazard to health. We work with the TETRA Industry Group to produce and distribute information regarding the health and safety of our technology.
We endeavour always to behave sensitively to public opinion to our mast sitings and we are proactive in local communities to address these issues, applying our Gold Star process to find positive outcomes.
For example, in response to health and safety concerns for a proposed site share at the Flotta Oil Terminal on the Orkney Islands, our consultative process resulted in unanimous support for the project. And on the Isle of Eigg, Inner Hebrides, meetings with residents who had feared the deployment of TETRA technology on the island, were successfully concluded. Both these sites are now operational and providing coverage for the Northern Constabulary.
Our community investment programme is an increasingly important part of Airwave and we are extending our commitment. In 2004/05 we supported a number of initiatives, including a Fire Safety line in Lancashire and a number of activities for Milly's Fund. We have launched environmental initiatives in Cheshire and Rugby and have announced plans to create a mentoring programme that will give our employees the opportunity to offer their skills, time and energy to projects in the communities in which we work.
