Cable & Wireless wins multi-million National Grid contract

Cable&Wireless

Cable & Wireless has won a contract with the National Grid to create and provide a dedicated telecoms network to support its "Core Network Infrastructure and Operational Systems," the company announced today.

The 15 year deal for the Next Generation Operational Telecommunications Network (OpTel NGN), worth 207 million, is made up of two separate contracts; a 15 year 108 million contract supplying and running its optical fibre network and a shorter five year contract, still worth 99 million, to manage the overall telecoms network for the Grid.

Jim Marsh, chief executive officer at Cable & Wireless Worldwide, said: "This is a fantastic deal for Cable & Wireless as it cements our position as the premier supplier to the Utility industry. Our ability to offer a complete managed NGN service means we now have a strategically important relationship with National Grid to 2026."

The OpTel NGN will securely deliver important services across the company using a multi-service platform. The company claims it will "set a standard" to address the high performance telecoms which it believes others will follow.

David Lister, chief information officer for National Grid, said: "Our Operational Telecommunications Network provides mission critical services, so it's absolutely vital that we picked the right strategic supplier that could support us in the transmission of electricity in the UK. Cable & Wireless offered us all the assurances we need in terms of customer service, resilience and security for us to continue to provide the highest standards of service to our customers."

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.