Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has signed a six-year contract with Virgin Media Business to deploy PSN compliant network.
With the network, the Service hopes to respond to incoming 999 calls and use apps including Voice over IP and video conferencing.
The Wide Area Network connects 52 sites which include 51 fire stations and the headquarters in Eastleigh.
Wider connections include another 16 partners including Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council, Portsmouth City Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The PSN network will provide access to 1,935 staff at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to the network that operates at speeds of up to 100Mbps, the company said.
In addition, the secure network system will support the Command and Control System which processes the 40,000 999 calls that are made across the county every year.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service also plans to use the network to share services with other councils and fire services across the country including Kent Fire & Rescue in the coming months.
Virgin Media Business’s Wide Area Network (WAN) was procured over the HPSN2, a shared framework agreement launched in 2009 that is powered by the company’s nationwide, fibre optic network.
Virgin Media Business public sector director Lee Hull said that when the right network can make the difference between a successful and failed 999 call, it is critical that resilience and business continuity are front of mind for Hampshire Fire and Rescue.
"The time we’ve spent investing in our PSN accreditations and shared networks such as HSPN2 and the London PSN is now coming to fruition and it’s great to see organisations start to harness the true benefits that sharing services enable," Hull said.
