N.S. Project Finalist in Canada-wide Competition

TRANSPORTATION/PUBLIC WORKS--N.S. Project Finalist in Canada-wide Competition

A new mobile radio system, custom-designed for Nova Scotia's needs, is in the running for a prestigious Canadian award.

Nova Scotia's trunked mobile radio network, which enhances public safety across the province, is a finalist at the Technology in Government Distinction Awards ceremony, to be held Oct. 15 in Hull, Que.

The new network provides state-of-the-art field communications to more than 400 organizations across the province, including 11,000 emergency response volunteers. It supports several provincial departments, as well as many municipal police, volunteer and paid firefighters, paramedics, ground search and rescue teams and emergency measures officials.

"This new system will improve public safety in Nova Scotia," said Ron Russell, Minister of Transportation and Public Works. The department is responsible for the trunked mobile radio system. "It enhances the ability of emergency agencies to work together, and allows government's field staff to better communicate in remote areas, benefitting workers such as snow plow operators and conservation officers."

The system's 68 towers improve radio contact across Nova Scotia and allow emergency organizations to talk to one another on the same broadband frequency, an improvement over the previous radio network.

The new network replaces the province's 20-year-old integrated mobile radio service. The old system often needed an operator to connect different agencies and was often unable to connect radios from remote parts of the province; trunked mobile radio allows for seamless communication, making it easier to connect fire, police and other groups in an emergency.

"The system is providing a vital communications link between the province's many volunteer agencies and the rest of the public safety community in Nova Scotia," said Joe MacPherson, volunteer telecommunications coordinator with the Nova Scotia Region, Canadian Red Cross. "The new network is especially important in instances where several emergency agencies respond to the same incident. It provides a platform for services like the RCMP, municipal police, fire departments and provincial emergency agencies to communicate easily and coordinate resources."

The province -- with the support and assistance of emergency groups across Nova Scotia, including many volunteers, and Aliant and Motorola Canada -- began building the system in 1999 and then gradually migrated users in 2000 and 2001.

Today, about 5,000 subscribers use the trunked mobile radio network, and more are coming on stream every year. The network has even expanded outside Nova Scotia, with the City of Fredericton joining last year.

Out of 37 award nominations, Nova Scotia is one of nine finalists in the Unique Achievement Award category of the Technology in Government Distinction Awards. The awards will be presented Oct. 15 at a ceremony at the Museum of Civilization in Hull.