Tetra migration complete by March

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 18 Jan 2008

Gauteng police hope to extend their terrestrial trunked radio (Tetra) network to Gauteng and the West Rand by March.

The migration, which was to have been completed by December, has been delayed by environmental concerns and property owners who have objected to the placement of masts.

Police spokesman superintendent Eugene Opperman says a number of repeater stations are also still being installed.

Once operational, the Tetra network will allow the Johannesburg and West Rand police to discard obsolete analogue technology and close off two old-style contact centres. Emergency calls will then migrate to a new Tetra-based centre built in Midrand, at a cost of R600 million. All other emergency calls made in Gauteng are already handled from there.

Opperman says the Tetra technology has already made a discernable difference. He says the system means he can now hear police calls in Pretoria across the network at the provincial head office in Parktown, Johannesburg.

"It is amazing; we could never ever pick up Pretoria here before. Now it sounds like the man is standing next to you," he says. "I can understand why police on the ground are saying they want it."

Johannesburg police officers recently complained to a daily newspaper that the delays with Tetra were endangering their lives.