THE response of emergency services to a terrorist bomb threat is just one of the many test scenarios played out at Motorola Solutions European headquarters in Basingstoke.

The company has just opened its industry leading Mission Critical Solutions Centre, in Jays Close, on Viables Industrial Estate.

Simulations are tracked using new applications and services that support the police, fire and ambulance services and other specialist services tasked with delivering public safety.

Impressed with the £800,000 European test lab and live demonstration facility was Basingstoke MP Maria Miller, who last week met Graeme Hobbs, the country manager and chairman of Motorola Solutions UK.

He gave her a tour of the new facility on the day Motorola celebrated its 30th anniversary.

It features a command and control centre with live TETRA and 4G LTE mobile broadband feeds.

Data gathering from cameras, smartphones, social media and sensors provide new levels of intelligence for public safety agencies.

The centre can also support those deciding how to manage that intelligence and the increased flow of data.

Mr Hobbs said: “This is a major commitment to the UK by the company and it is the first of its kind in Europe. What Mrs Miller saw are pilots that demonstrate capability.”

He added: “We have two businesses – our Government business with professional mission critical communications, and our enterprise business, which takes a lot of that mission critical technology and applies it to retail and logistics.

“But with the focus in the future on the next generation of public safety, we have decided that we should divest the enterprise business and focus all of our resources on Government business going forward.”

Mr Hobbs said this will have little impact on jobs in Basingstoke, as the majority of the site is Government-based business.

He added: “We have got a huge investment in this site – this is a complete commitment to Basing-stoke.”

Mrs Miller said: “Today I have learned a great deal about the critical work the company is doing to support our emergency services.

“I really do wish them well with the work they are doing in that area because we all know how critical it is to have good communications for our emergency services, especially when you think about the problems the emergency services faced during the 7/7 London bombings.

“We all know that improvement in that area has got to be a priority and it is a priority to the Home Office.

“In Basingstoke, we are proud to have a real edge when it comes to technologically-based companies and I think Motorola is another of those companies.

“It shows that Basingstoke is a fantastic place to do business, and to be here for 30 years is a real testament to the town but also to the people.”

Commenting on the 30th anniversary milestone, Mr Hobbs said: “We have been in this building for 30 years. This started off as a factory, it then became a distribution centre and it is now the European headquarters and it is a major engineering hub for sales and marketing for the wider region.”