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Last updated: 02 November 2010
The High Integrity Telecommunications System (HITS) provides a resilient communications backbone between crisis management centres across the UK. It is designed to remain available in the event of short- or no-notice loss of all or part of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The resilience will be obtained through a combination of fixed satellite and diverse terrestrial bearers.
The HITS Core Network will provide a capability in each Police Force Area in England and Wales; to the Devolved Administrations in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast; and at Central Government Crisis Management Facilities. This network will be augmented by transportable satellite terminals capable of being deployed at short notice to fallback locations in the event that a main centre becomes unavailable (possibly because a major incident has occurred in the immediate vicinity). This will enable Government command and control capability to be extended to UK sites where events have compromised all available telecoms services despite in-build diversity, or to locations where no capability exists.
The Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat is delivering HITS in partnership with Paradigm Secure Communications and the UK Ministry of Defence. For information about HITS please consult the factsheets included in the Publications section below.
The pilot phase (Phase 1) of the rollout included five sites across England and Wales, and one transportable terminal. Phase 1 has been successfully delivered.
Phase 2 added a further ten sites to the network, and two further transportable terminals. Phase 2 is now complete, with the exception of the former "Boxed Kit" sites which are being redesigned.
All three Transportable Terminals are now in service.
Phase 3 is currently being rolled-out, and will add 24 more sites to the network - delivering the majority of the sites in the Core HITS network. Site surveys of Phase 3 locations have now been completed.
Phase 4 will complete the delivery of the HITS Core Network, installing HITS in all Police Force Areas in England and Wales; Cabinet Office crisis management facilities; and the Devolved Administrations. The Cabinet Office HITS Team has sucessfully renegotiated delivery of Phase 4 and the Core Network to complete HITS at a reduced cost, following the recent spending review.
Please consult the map below to see the provisional roll-out (by phase) schedule as at October 2010:
The grey pins represent the 5 pilot sites, the green are Phase 2, red Phase 3 and blue for Phase 4.
The Cabinet Office HITS Team is also working with Other Government Departments and their agencies to include them in the HITS network at a later date.
For more information please see the HITS materials (including factsheets and FAQs) in the publications section below. Please contact the HITS team at HITS@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk if you need further information.
The HITS Information Pack replaces the HITS Factsheets.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions is available to download below. The FAQs are subject to frequent updates (currently at version 9), and you should check back to this page on a regular basis to download the latest available version.
General enquiries: Cabinet Office, 22 Whitehall, London SW1A 2WH.
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