Tetra to supply Garda digital radio service

A digital radio service for gardaí, which cannot be scanned by criminals, is to be rolled out in the next two years, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said.

At Balbriggan Garda station, where an evaluation of the service was launched yesterday, Mr McDowell announced that Tetra Ireland had been chosen as the preferred bidder to supply the service nationwide.

Tetra Ireland Ltd, made up of Eircom, Motorola and Sigma Wireless, will run the service in parts of Dublin including the port, the airport and parts of Co Meath. Once the evaluation is complete in July, the system will be rolled out across the State within two years.

Garda radios currently work on the analogue system, which can be intercepted by criminals and others using scanners, but digital radio transmissions are secured against eavesdropping, according to the Minister.

They also offer better coverage, a push-button emergency signal and are compatible with the system used by the PSNI. Data can also be transmitted.

The digital radio service was first mooted by the Government in 2001, when a pilot project was carried out to assess its usefulness.

Mr McDowell acknowledged that the process had taken a long time.