AIBS National News

Telstra has been awarded the contract to build and deliver a new national telephony-based emergency warning system.

After a thorough tender process, Telstra has been selected as the provider of the fixed and mobile phone National Emergency Warning System (NEWS).

Victoria’s Police and Emergency Services Minister, Bob Cameron, announced that work would begin immediately to complete the project by the end of October, with comprehensive testing to take place throughout November.

“This system will provide emergency service authorities with another way to earn communities in the event of an emergency and in Victoria will complement the actions our Government is taking to better protect Victorians from bushfires,” Cameron said.

“Experts predict this fire season could be potentially worse than the season we’ve just experienced and Victoria led the delivery of the new national based system because we wanted a system in place for this fire season that could alert communities in the event of a life-threatening emergency.”

Cameron said the NEWS will alert communities to emergencies via a recorded voice message on landline telephones and a text message on mobiles based on the subscribers’ billing address.

In partnership with the Federal Government, the Victorian Government will explore the feasibility of delivering mobile phone messages based on the physical location of a mobile handset at the time of the emergency.

The Council of Australian Governments agreed in April that Victoria would lead the process of procuring and implementing the NEWS and a selective tender process began in July.

The Commonwealth has committed up to $15 million to fund the construction and implementation of the system.

Telstra chief executive officer David Thodey said the company was well placed to develop and build the NEWS.

“Telstra is extremely proud that our technology will be used to assist emergency service organisations by developing warnings to communities through the telephone system,” he said.