Case Study: Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service achieves reliable rural connectivity and ESN readiness with Cradlepoint

Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service Boosts Communication Reliability in Rural Areas

Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service, which covers a large and sparsely populated county, faced frequent connectivity “not spots” that hindered fast, reliable communications for frontline crews and made access to the Home Office’s Emergency Services Network (ESN) a priority. To address limited cellular coverage and the need to minimize vehicle downtime during upgrades, Norfolk F&RS chose Cradlepoint’s solution — deploying Cradlepoint NetCloud Service for Mobile with ruggedised Gigabit-Class LTE routers alongside Panasonic TOUGHBOOK 33 tablets as in-cab Mobile Data Terminals.

Cradlepoint implemented dual-modem, ESN-ready routers managed via NetCloud Manager to provide automatic failover between carriers, centralized configuration, and real-time visibility of signal strength and provider performance. The result was day-1 ESN accreditation, faster rollouts with installations taking around a day, improved network resilience and more consistent connectivity for crews — enabling quicker, more efficient emergency responses across rural areas.

Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service

Anthony Fearn

ICT Technical Manager