Queensland Gas Corporation (QGC) tapped Motorola Solutions to build its $14.4 million digital radio network that will service the communication requirements of the company's liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in southern and central Queensland.

Queensland Gas is currently developing and exploring the state's coal seam gas (CSG) deposits in the southern and central regions while at the same time establishing a 540 kilometre-long underground pipeline that will connect the areas to the company's Gladstone's processing facility for liquefaction.

The multi-million contract awarded by Queensland Gas to Motorola Solutions will allow the tech firm to shrink the distance between all points of explorations and productions by constructing a 28 site radio network that would cover the vast area of the LNG project.

In a statement released on Monday, Motorola Solutions managing director Gary Starr said that "the area QGC covers is a huge area and there's radio at all points in the supply chain."

In connecting the points comprising the LNG project, Starr said that "the radio network will use more than 3000 handsets, many of them certified 'intrinsically safe' for use around the potentially explosive gas."

He said that Motorola has taken note of the dangers that electrical pulse could pose on the gas project "so these units are designed to be safe in this sort of environment."

Radio networks have been ditching analog technology in favour of migrating to digital technology, which Motorola said will be the technology that would be dominantly utilised in the project.

Starr clarified though that only 30 percent of base installed in Australia is digital but 90 percent of the equipments deployed in the filed are overwhelmingly digital. The same network and gadgets will be used by Motorola for QGC's LNG projects.

Motorola Solutions is the offshoot of Motorola, which was partitioned into Motorola Mobility that mainly deals with handset and telephony manufacture and Motorola Solutions that offers establishment of enterprise mobility and radio network.