Abstract: A communication network for an area such as an underground mine. A plurality of cascaded base stations (13) are serially interconnected in a ring structure (11) to form a network backbone. One of the base stations (13) at one end of the network backbone forms a network controller (15) for controlling the network. A plurality of portables (17) are adapted for communication with any of the base stations via a common air interface. A backbone network protocol (19) is provided for communicating between the network controller (15) and all of the base stations (13) and between the base stations (13) along the network backbone themselves. A common air interface protocol (21) is provided for communicating between a portable (17) and a base station (13). The other base stations (13) function as slaves relative to the network controller (15).