Government Radio Network (Australia)

The Government Radio Network (GRN) is the umbrella term used to refer to various systems in place across Australia that enable statewide trunked radio communication. The network operates through inter-linked sites for government and public services such as police, ambulance, fire, or roads authorities which require such a system to function properly. The main aim of the GRN is to consolidate all resources into one network, ensuring greater coverage and reliability than if each department had its own independent communication system. The existence of the GRN also reduces the amount of government money and resources needed to maintain communication between units of emergency and public service branches. Last, it allows effective intercommunication among these services in times of national or state emergency for coordination of wide-scale actions.

The New South Wales Government Radio Network (commonly referred to as the NSW GRN) is a trunked radio system operating in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1993, the network was the first government trunked radio network in Australia and is currently one of the largest in the world. The network covers approximately one-third of New South Wales and the majority of the Australian Capital Territory, equating a coverage area of approximately 226,000 square kilometres. Currently, the network is owned by the Government of New South Wales through the NSW Telco Authority and the network’s operations are managed under contract.

The network is used by 5 of the 6 large NSW and ACT emergency services (the exception being the NSW Police Force) along with 29 other agencies, departments, services, and non-government organisations, including:

The network is also used by other government departments and discrete law enforcement agencies.

The network is a digital 9600 bps Project 25 (commonly referred to as P25 or APCO-25) Phase 1 trunked radio system operating in the UHF band between 403 MHz and 425 MHz in 12.5 kHz steps. End user equipment is currently supplied mostly by Motorola and consists primarily of the XTL-5000 (mobile) and XTS-5000 (hand-held) two-way radios (although Tait Communications and Simoco radios are also authorised for use). Encryption is supported and used by some agencies on the network

...
Wikipedia