Due to expansion, the UK’s second-largest waste management company, Biffa, is migrating from analogue to E-PoC following a review of its radio communications strategy.

Although it had been successfully using Entel HT radios for almost 15 years – since an introduction by Integrated Radio Systems, Entel’s authorised dealer – Biffa has now purchased Entel DN495 E-PoC radios to replace its analogue radios. Analogue/DMR repeaters have a limited channel capacity and extending the existing analogue range such as adding IP linked repeaters would have been far more expensive than moving to E-PoC.

Biffa has opted for phased implementation, where its functional departments will adopt the new technology sequentially. Teams that most need the increased range are transferring to E-PoC first, while others will continue using legacy HT analogue radios in the short-to-medium term. Using Entel’s Gateway, users of legacy HT radios and the new DN radios continue to be able to communicate with each other.

Daniel Barritt, Operations Manager of Biffa said: “We felt confident in switching to the DN495 radios due to their rugged construction, the audio is also really clear and loud, which is imperative for us in a noisy environment”