Case Study
Blue Light Hub
Mobile Connectivity Improvement Project
Cumbria County Council - Blue Light Hub
The multi-million pound Furness Peninsular Blue Light Hub, located next to the A590 in Ulverston, is a combined emergency response centre that brings together blue light services under one roof for the first time in the south of the county.
Cumbria County Council has delivered the combined Blue Light Hub facility, which includes:
- Office accommodation for NWAS, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, and Cumbria Police
- Operational facilities such as breathing apparatus workshop, drying room for fire fighters’ PPE and equipment storage
- Firehouse training facility
- Appliance bay accommodating two fire engines and one ambulance
- Conference/meeting room facilities
investment
£
1
m
opened
2000
building footprint
19000
m²
The Challenge
Since moving into the Blue Light Hub in early 2021 all three services have struggled with poor mobile phone signal, causing major operational difficulties. This is caused by a combination of weak donor (external) signal and the material used in construction.
This led to a number of operational challenges, including communication with external stakeholders, other emergency services and the community. With little to no mobile coverage, health and safety in the hub was also a concern.
‘The building occupants noticed the improvement immediately. On both my EE and Vodafone phones the difference was like night and day, increasing from next to no signal to full 4G signal on both devices.’
– ICT Infrastructure Engineer, Cumbria County Council
The Solution
Following a detailed survey conducted by Boost Pro engineers, the team designed a passive DAS to improve both EE and Vodafone in all key areas throughout the facility. From the survey, the system was fully installed and commissioned within 3 weeks.
Due to the poor donor signal 2 x high gain LDPA antennas were used utilised, with 4 x repeater units (2 per network) and 7 x internal omni antenna completing the system.
This project leverages our licence-exempt Passive DAS Industrial Signal Booster. This product benefits from:
✓ 3G / 4G / LTE Voice and Data
✓ Multi-Carrier Support with Carrier Switching
✓ Indoor / Outdoor NEMA 4 Rated
✓ Network Safe
The Results
All areas of the depot now receive full EE & Vodafone LTE voice and data coverage
Employees can now easily communicate with all stakeholders, including local authorities, emergency services and the community.
The team now benefits from health and safety, productivity and operational advantages of being able to use mobile devices on the move within the hub.
Our mobile repeater products are licence-exempt and fully meets the regulatory requirements in the UK (Ofcom SI 2018/399) and Ireland (ComReg S.I.No.283 of 2018)
