A nine year contract by the Department of Finance (DoF) to provide telecommunications services to all public sector bodies across Northern Ireland has gone to BT.
The telecoms firm will deliver network and unified communication services including new hardware, software and network security services across eleven Government departments and other public sector bodies. The contract, valued at around £50m, could grow to a maximum of £400m with other services and customers on the new network.
Paul Murnaghan, BT Enterprise’s regional director in Northern Ireland, said: “BT is committed to playing its part in helping to shape and deliver transformational public services for people across Northern Ireland now and into the future. This contract will see us deliver a commercially innovative communications framework, which will provide the building blocks for a future-proofed solution to meet the developing needs of public sector users and citizens. Connecting public sector employees, citizens and services in ways that haven’t been possible before.
“We are committed to ensuring best value for money, providing the opportunity for all local communication providers to deliver their services.”
Paul Wickens, CEO of Enterprise Shared Services, Northern Ireland Civil Service, said: “This advanced network solution will allow us to provide high quality services. The new telecommunications infrastructure will replace a wide range of diverse networks. It offers high levels of security and operational stability, providing strong foundations for the new IT system for Northern Ireland’s citizens, who make use of a variety of public sector services.”
The first core network services will be available for use by summer 2019. BT will manage the core telecommunications infrastructure, including business continuity plans for the network.
