UK-based global engineering firm Babcock has hired Cable&Wireless Worldwide (CWW) as its sole telecoms supplier for the next three years to consolidate Babcock's legacy network estate and connect its 250 UK and international sites. No financial details were available.
CWW's next-generation network will provide the Babcock sites with a business-critical communications infrastructure, which is key to Babcock's UK government and Ministry of Defence clients.
Babcock, which built large parts of the Arqiva radio network, was the last firm to pull out of the bid for the Cornwall broadband contract, leaving BT the sole bidder for the £132m deal*.
Babcock is known to be interested in the government's £830m kitty for broadband roll-out, but both firms declined to comment on this aspect of the relationship.
Babcock recently paid £1.5bn for VT Group, which builds smaller naval vessels, to complement its work on UK nuclear submarines.
The network will provide managed encryption with IL3 accreditation, enhanced data security and connections to key sectors such as defence, communications, education, nuclear and rail.
By consolidating Babcock's separate networks, CWW will allow Babcock to redefine its IT infrastructure, which will lead to datacentre consolidation and managed video conferencing. The simplified architecture will allow greater collaboration between Babcock staff and customers and give Babcock better insights into service levels, costs and speed, as well as a single point of contact for issues.
Babcock CIO Simon Parker said the firm had looked for a partner with experience that could offer it a highly resilient, future-proof network.
*The £132m Cornwall broadband contract consisted of £78.5m provided by BT, and £53.5m from the European Regional Development Fund convergence programme..
17 Jan 2011