Land Mobile Radio network

A leading component of the Public Safety Network is a new digital, secure and encrypted national Land Mobile Radio network with sufficient resilience for emergency services to rely on it as a network of last resort.

The Land Mobile Radio network will enable increased communications between the emergency services by providing common communication channels. It will also support push to talk communications, which are used extensively by the emergency services, and enable location services which supports the safety of frontline staff. 

The new digital Land Mobile Radio network is complemented by the PSN's Cellular Priority, Roaming and Network Visibility services and Personal Alerting.

The approximately 500 site Land Mobile Radio network is being delivered by Tait Systems NZ(external link) - a wholly owned subsidiary of Tait Communications. Once delivered, the emergency services will begin migrating to it from their existing radio networks and using it.

Security and encryption 

Using P25 technology, the new secure, encrypted PSN LMR network will be locked down meaning only emergency responders will have access to it. Security on their radio network gives police, firefighters and paramedics the ability to plan and operate unimpeded and to share what is often private and sensitive information.

You can read more on Tait Communication’s website and watch their P25 encryption video(external link).

Read stories about the Land Mobile Radio Network on our News page and on Tait Systems NZ's News(external link) page. 

You can also read our PSN Land Mobile Radio network info sheet [PDF, 1 MB].

Testing on a small-scale South Canterbury network

The Land Mobile Radio network will have about 500 radio transmission sites and involve new handheld radios and mobile vehicle devices for frontline responders.  Given the magnitude and national significance of this network, it’s critical for the emergency services and network vendor, Tait Systems NZ, to be assured the solution will work when it goes live.

That’s why there has been a small-scale functioning digital Land Mobile Radio network available in South Canterbury from mid-2024 for the emergency services to carry out testing. While this is happening, emergency services in the area will continue to use existing radio networks for their daily operations.

The emergency services are now trying-out the new radios and devices using different operational scenarios by connecting to eight new digital radio sites. A new Tait Systems NZ Service Management Centre is in place to provide support to the emergency services and check the technology is working and information is flowing.  

Lessons learned during this period will help ensure the subsequent regional roll out of the Land Mobile Radio network across the country is effective and efficient and supports frontline responders to do their jobs and stay safe.

South Canterbury is an ideal region for the emergency services to carry out their testing because its geography hosts many of the features found across Aotearoa. This means the radio sites, signals and equipment can be efficiently tested across multiple terrains and scenarios to help prepare for the national deployment.