Bristol Council Upgrade CCTV

City council approves plans to upgrade Bristol’s camera network.

16:40 11 December 2017

On December 4, Bristol City Council passed plans to replace its 1,700 CCTV network. Councillors have also approved plans to improve the city’s fibre optic cables and internet networks. The combined projects will cost £3million.

 

Bristol’s operations centre, which controls all the council’s CCTV cameras, is one of the most advanced in the country. It links the CCTV network with traffic supervisors and emergency services.

 

The cabinet report states: “The majority of the 1,700 CCTV cameras around the city are old, analogue devices, no longer supported by manufacturers and in some cases already starting to fail.

 

“[The proposal is to] further exploit the new operations centre and to reduce the risk of CCTV failure and deliver further services, smart city information and efficiencies.”

 

The council is considering the option of renting out space in its operation centre to private companies and other services that might benefit from the technology. It says it can charge up to £22,300 for a single desk.