VHF/UHF spectrum for APCO-P25 emergency comms in NZ

New Zealand is allocating VHF and UHF spectrum for Public Protection and Disaster Relief. They will use the APCO-P25 international standard for digital radiocommunications.

The announcement on the New Zealand Radio Spectrum Management website says:

Communications and Information Technology Minister David Cunliffe and Police Minister Annette King today announced the allocation of VHF and UHF spectrum for the exclusive use of agencies with responsibility for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR). This allocation affects such agencies as the police, border control and civil defence.

Spectrum in the ranges of 138-144 MHz (ESB band) and 494-502 MHz (ESC band) will be employed for digital land mobile radiocommunications. It will be used initially for a new digital radio network being developed by the NZ Police, which is intended to extend over time into a whole-of-government emergency radio system.

The network will be based on the APCO-P25 international digital standard for radiocommunications, which has recently been adopted as an e-government standard.

Spectrum allocation for public protection and disaster relief radiocommunications services http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms/policy-and-planning/current-projects/radiocommunications/spectrum-allocation-for-public-protection-and-disaster-relief-radiocommunications-services

e-GIF interoperability standard (APCO-P25) http://www.e.govt.nz/standards/e-gif/apcop25