• Arqiva secures three-year contract to repair and maintain radio communications equipment for Scottish Prison Service
• Fully-managed service encompasses 18 locations across Scotland
• Local field operational support ensures 24-hour service

Arqiva today announced that it has secured a three-year contract to maintain and repair radio communications equipment for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).  The contract will see Arqiva servicing handheld radios and other communications equipment across all of Scotland's directly managed establishments as well as the SPS headquarters, college and central storage facility.

Arqiva's fully-managed service will encompass the servicing, maintenance and repair of radio equipment across the locations, as well as provide an established network of local field staff in Scotland on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The equipment consists of base-station units, fixed mobiles, roof-mounted antennas and handheld portable radios with remote microphones and earpieces at all of the sites.

Jim O'Neill, Communications Manager at the Scottish Prisons Service said: "As a publicly accountable agency, it is essential that we have a fully functional communications system, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Arqiva's localised field operations and fully-managed service will ensure that our equipment remains operational at all times and we are confident that Arqiva will be able to provide us with the reliable and resilient communications we need. We look forward to working with them, drawing on their expertise in this area."

Alastair Davidson, Managing Director of Arqiva's Public Safety division, added: "Our heritage in supporting mission-critical communication systems gave the Scottish Prison Service the confidence that we could provide the service they needed.  We've worked closely with them to get an in-depth understanding of their needs and fully appreciate the importance of a totally reliable communications network.  With our field operations personnel working closely with the SPS, this will enable seamless operation of the communications equipment for the radio users, and further allow the Prison Service to focus on their primary function."