RESCAT - authority network in Catalonia, Spain

Shared public safety network

RESCAT for the security of Catalonia, Spain

The RESCAT network has been in operation since the year 2000 and it helps provide safety to the 7,500,000 people in Catalonia.

In 2017 alone, the network successfully handled more than 375,000 hours of group calls.

Successfully shared

The RESCAT network provides secure communications and the following organizations share its use:

• Catalonian Police Mossos d’Esquadra
• fire brigades
• local police
• medical emergency services
• forest guards
• Catalonian Water Agency
• civil protection
• utility services providers
• other regional and local public agencies.

Police cooperation is an example

Since 2010, the local administrations have been incorporated into the RESCAT network, increasing the number of users by 35 %. This means that all the local police and Mossos d’Esquadra (the regional police) can communicate directly over the same resources and coordinate their actions straight away. This has brought better efficiency and as a result, better safety for the inhabitants.

Coordination between other fleets like Civil Protection and fire brigades through RESCAT has also been essential.

The RESCAT network has also demonstrated its high capacity and performance in the toughest situations, such as the terrorist attacks on August 17 in Barcelona, during which, involved base stations were able to take over all additional traffic load without affecting the operations deployed in the area. Main base stations handled more than 14.7 hours of group calls per hour thanks to correct network planning. It is important to remark how different organisations manage their communication in these exceptional situations affects the amount of capacity they use.

Facts and figures

The RESCAT network is based on DXT switches from Airbus and it comprises more than 250 TETRA base stations (380-400 MHz). In addition, dispatcher and server applications are in use.