EAS

Background

In November 2022, MAC Network Services, in collaboration with KTL, were awarded several work packages as part of the Home Office Extended Area Service (EAS) rollout.

The Extended Area Service (EAS) is a crucial component of the Emergency Services Network (ESN), designed to ensure ESN coverage in some of the most rural and remote parts of Great Britain. The Home Office plans to build a total of 292 sites to augment EE’s ESN network, significantly enhancing emergency service coverage in those areas. MAC Network Services is poised to complete works across these sites, encompassing our electrical, rigging, and civil divisions.

Our Role

Our project scope involved initially conducting surveys on all sites to determine specific requirements, managing stores and logistics for all customer-owned equipment, ensuring last-mile delivery to the site, deploying BTS, PSU, and transmission cabinets, and executing all rigging works at height. To date, we have successfully completed several hundred activities.

Due to their remote locations, deploying equipment and personnel to these sites presents substantial challenges, an area where MAC has considerable expertise.

The Impact

Each site had unique challenges, but Knoydart on the West of Scotland, known as ‘Britain’s Last Wilderness,’ was particularly notable. As Knoydart is one of Scotland’s forty national scenic areas, we engaged with The Knoydart Foundation during planning and kept them regularly updated throughout the project. Given the site’s remoteness, we had to transport all engineers, vehicles, and equipment by boat. The materials were then moved to a staging area and flown to the site by helicopter, with engineers transported by ATV. Despite the challenging weather conditions, we successfully deployed PSU, transmission equipment, BTS equipment, and installed a 4G antenna system on the mast.