City of London Corp Picks Roc Technologies to Deliver New Network

The City of London (CoL) Corporation has picked Roc Technologies to deliver a new end-to-end networking connectivity solution, encompassing a UK-first enterprise SASE rollout for public services, AI-driven wireless capability and high-availability internet connectivity. The move comes after Roc reached a deal to harness Vorboss’ 100Gbps full fibre network in the area (here).

Coverage of the new Cloud supported network will span the City of London Corporation, the City of London Police, the Barbican Centre, City of London schools, parks, libraries and protected heritage locations such as Epping Forest, the iconic ponds at Hampstead Heath and Mansion House. A total of over 200 locations are to be included in the solution, ensuring the new connectivity reaches every employee, official, resident and visitor within its community.

The agreement is part of the CoL’s mandate to create a “One City” experience for millions, which aspires to redefine how connectivity empowers residents, visitors and businesses. “This trailblazing infrastructure brings tangible, everyday benefits to users right across the City. Reliable, high-speed access means staff can work productively and securely from any location … Importantly, this enhanced connectivity addresses critical public safety challenges: such as ensuring seamless support for 4K body-worn police cameras, which helps protect officers and the communities they serve, even in remote areas,” said the announcement.

Chelsea Chamberlin, Chief Technology Officet at Roc Technologies, said:

“The City of London sees footfall of millions of people a day, so it’s vital that a consistent network experience is delivered across all locations and to all users, including visitors, residents and businesses regardless of the services they need to access. We’re delighted to be the sole primary supplier for this exciting project, drawing on a range of solutions from our expert partners to deliver a truly future-proof network architecture in the heart of the capital.”

Zakki Ghauri, Director of Digital Services CoLC, said:

“Our ambition is to be at the forefront of digital innovation for the benefit of Londoners. Partnering with Roc enables us to modernise our network, enhance connectivity across all our organisations under one banner and ensure we can deliver innovative, flexible services wherever and whenever they are needed.”

Roc added that all of the vendors and partners involved in the delivery of the new service maintain resilient data centre operations in the UK, ensuring no sensitive data leaves the UK. The solution leverages HPE’s AI-Ops platform, Juniper MIST, global cybersecurity leader Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma SASE solution and Vorboss’ fibre network.

Consolidation of suppliers from 11 to one, Roc also promises cost efficiency – £20,000 a month in savings is projected by removing energy-consuming on-premises hardware and cutting supply chain complexity. The cloud-based service model (i.e. “all traffic and devices managed in the cloud“) is said to mean that services can be scaled up and down as needed, ensuring further savings and necessary agility for the corporation (hopefully they have a non-cloud alternative for disaster backup).