Public Safety Network launches new cellular roaming service

Today the Public Safety Network (PSN) launches its first deliverable – a cellular roaming service for emergency services’ phones and devices allowing them to use both Spark and One NZ mobile networks.

The PSN(external link) is a new critical communications service connecting New Zealand’s frontline emergency responders via cellular roaming services, and land mobile radio (LMR). It will be delivering a single nationwide secure digital radio service and prioritised cellular capability across New Zealand, connecting our frontline emergency services, and enabling us to work more effectively together at emergency incidents.

'The Public Safety Network’s new cellular roaming service will significantly improve the agencies’ ability to access mobile broadband, which is really important for the technology they use to do their jobs and serve the community. It will also help them to stay safe and work together,' says Digital Economy and Communications and Police Minister Ginny Andersen. 'It’s good news for our communities.'

PSN Cellular Roaming connects users to the other network when they lose coverage on the first network. Roaming prefers the device’s ‘home’ network, so after a period of non-use, a user’s phone or laptop/tablet will search to see if the home network is available and reconnect them to that.

Starting this month, we will begin migrating Fire and Emergency work phones and devices onto the PSN network so we can use cellular roaming. We will run a small ‘pilot’ group of staff in July to ensure the end-to-end activation and roaming process works as expected. This will involve replacing the current SIM card in the phone or device with a new PSN SIM and activating it to work on the PSN network. 

Next year PSN will launch another cellular service to give emergency services priority access to the Spark and One NZ networks. This means calls and data from phones and devices with PSN SIMs will get priority mobile coverage - ahead of all other calls - at times of network congestion or degradation such as in large emergencies. 

For more information about the Public Service Network and the Fire and Emergency process for phone and device migration to access PSN cellular roaming, visit our Fire and Emergency PSN Project page.