Cobham Wireless deploys public safety network for Eurasia tunnel

Cobham Wireless has announced the delivery of a public safety communications system for the Eurasia Tunnel, the first undersea road tunnel to connect two continents.

Its multi-band, multi-technology coverage solution provides the emergency services communication within the 5.4 Km tunnel, which links two areas of Istanbul and spans both Europe and Asia.

The customised solution incorporates Cobham Wireless’ D-CSR (Digital Channel Selective Repeaters) and BSR (Band Selective Repeaters), and supports ultra high frequency (UHF), very high frequency (VHF), digital mobile radio (DMR), and FM technologies. This ensures that emergency services and operational teams can communicate at all times, throughout the tunnel.

Cobham Wireless was awarded the contract in September 2016 and worked with systems integration partner Yapı İDİS to install the system. The deployment was completed within a tight deadline of just three months, and delivered in time for the official inauguration ceremony in December.

Dogan Ozturk, Country Manager, Turkey, at Cobham Wireless said, “Also, as the digital off-air repeaters are software-based, new features can be easily added via a remote download, making this a robust and future-proof system.”

In addition to both internal and interdepartmental communications, the deployment also features a break-in system, allowing operational teams to access the FM channel and alert drivers to safety issues via their in-car FM radios. The system includes two master sites (one active, one redundant), each containing one VHF repeater for communication between ambulance services, and one UHF repeater each for police, fire and DMR/AFAD (Istanbul’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) communication.

The sites include one combiner and one Optical Master Unit (OMUII), and sit at either end of the tunnel, with one site providing essential back-up coverage. The master sites are connected via fibre to multiple remotes sites, providing reliable communications at any point throughout the tunnel. The entire system can be overseen and controlled off-site, using Cobham Wireless’ Active Element Manager (AEM).

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