Motorola nabs $500m deal for Victorian emergency comms

Victorian has spent half a billion dollars on the extension of an emergency communications network connecting some 32,000 smart radios across the state.

Motorola Solutions has landed a $500m contract with the Victorian Government.

The Victorian Government has spent $500m on the extension of a critical communications service with Motorola Solutions, in a deal which will give the state’s emergency services a boost which will rival state-of-the-art technology in the US.

The 10-year extension will for the first time bring Marine, Search & Rescue onto the network via purpose-built radios that use artificial intelligence and voice commands to communicate.

The new radios, called Project 25, arrive with a suite of new AI-powered features and applications allowing the location of the device and responder to be found on maps in the most rural parts of the country.

Motorola Solutions has provided network capabilities for the state for the past 20 years, with Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, Fire Rescue Victoria, Victoria State Emergency Service and Life Saving Victoria all using the network.

Motorola Solutions managing director Con Balaskas said the new smart radios could automatically switch between networks to ensure they maintained a constant line of communication.

The radios typically leverage the Telstra or Optus network, depending on a customer’s location and preference, and when not in range of land mobile radio (LMR) and broadband could leverage a satellite network.

Motorola Solutions has provided network capabilities for Victorian emergency services for the past 20 years.

The Victorian Country Fire Authority purchased 16,000 radios in 2024 and has begun pushing them out to its stations across the state. The radios typically last between seven to 10 years before becoming obsolete.

Since the Black Summer Bushfire in 2019 Australia has upped its investment in communications for emergency services operators as satellite connectivity has become increasingly popular for state emergency services, particularly for areas prone to flooding and other natural disasters.

“Places where it’s difficult to propagate any form of coverage, that’s the primary use case for satellites that we’re seeing from the agencies,” Mr Balaskas said.

“Just from an agency perspective, there has been, probably over the last two years, a lot of investment in remote connectivity and partnerships with Starlink. It’s becoming more prevalent in terms of what they are trying to achieve where they have previously had no connectivity at all.”

Motorola Solutions has deals with every state and territory in Australia to provide communications networks for emergency services personnel.

Across Victoria there were 32,000 radios using its Metropolitan Mobile Radio (MMR) network. Ambulance Victoria has around 1600 smart radios and 750 radios fitted inside vehicles.

The MMR network has been used across several of the state’s major disasters including the 2023 flood crisis and the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.

In 2024, some 48.5 million calls were made to the MMR network.

Originally published as Motorola nabs $500m deal for Victorian emergency comms