Following a survey in Yaoundé carried out by our technical team which found that the existing radio set up needed to be upgraded, a local team repaired the repeater tower and brought it back into a useable state. When our surveyors returned to re-survey the system - with the repeater tower in working order - they were able to concentrate on completing the essential system upgrade.

To date, we have completed digital radio upgrades at over 170 posts globally as part of our rollout programme.

As the equipment had already been dispatched to post after the initial survey, our surveyors had everything they needed to complete the install themselves, instead of sending out a dedicated installation team. This saved both time and money on this project.

Radio coverage was reinstated to cover all vehicles, residences and offices with the added benefits associated with a digital system.

Analogue radio systems need to be upgraded because the technology is ageing, and the digital system can be made more secure. The team also retrained all staff and were able to demonstrate the advantages in the new system.

Our surveyors had everything they needed to complete the install themselves, saving both time and money on this project.

The radio system was recently used to its full extent during the evacuation of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office staff (and British nationals) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCDO faced major challenges with poor internet connectivity while at the airport in Douala which impacted connecting laptops to the Internet. With the Consular team spread out across the airport, radios were the best solution for keeping in touch with each other and communicating with base.

“We found radios to be the best solution for keeping in touch with each other. This enabled us to feed along updates from and to base, and to co-ordinate the team at the airport, thus delivering a successful charter.” Nigel Holmes, Deputy British High Commissioner