Airwave, which has built a dedicated TETRA mobile radio network to support the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has completed the first land-to-sea testing of the system off the south coast of England.

Recognized as a world-class sailing destination and acknowledged by the Royal Yachting Association as the best in northern Europe, waters off the county of Dorset will host all the sailing events for London 2012 between July and September 2012.

“It is the first time that we have performed land-to-sea coverage testing of a radio network and this followed months of planning by our team of engineers”, said David Sangster, UK services director of Airwave. “With the upcoming sailing events for London 2012 taking place in Dorset it is vital that we provide a world-class PMR network.”

Known as Apollo, the PMR network has been purpose-built to provide communications at all London 2012 competition venues, from the Olympic Park itself to sites such as Glasgow, Manchester and Coventry.

Voice communications will be provided for over 18?000 staff and volunteers working for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), including officials involved in the sailing events.

“A secure and effective radio communications service is a critical piece of infrastructure, and extending the network to include Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour means that for the first time we are able to include a land-to-sea solution”,
Mr Sangster added.