UK ISP MLL Telecom Scoop EastNet Wide Area Network Contract

Business ISP MLL Telecom, together with its partner Cityfibre, will invest £2.25m to extend their core infrastructure after the former was awarded the EastNet contract to deliver a new Wide Area Network (WAN) solution and centralised services to Cambridgeshire County Council, as well as the wider community.

The new contract will enable all public sector organisations, including local schools, NHS Foundation Trusts, Councils and Blue Light Services in the region to access a secure regional network – both via a Public Services Network (PSN) and the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) – allowing them to benefit from “full fibre” gigabit speed broadband and data connectivity.

On top of that the new network will also fuel other centralised services, such as managed WiFi and firewalls etc. The new network framework, which will be effective for 6 years, will replace the legacy Cambridge Public Services Network (CPSN) Partnership. MLL Telecom aims to migrate all sites in a phased approach to ensure the transition is completed effectively with minimal service disruption by May 2019.

Gail Harvey, MLL Business Development Director, said:

“Throughout this process it was critical that we were able to deliver quality not just for Cambridgeshire County Council, but to the wider communities in the region – which our partnership with CItyFibre has allowed us to offer.

Over the next six years our aim is to provide continuous innovation, flexibility and agility to enable our EastNet partners to keep up with changing market requirements. Drawing on our 25 years of public sector IT experience we will ensure that our service remains fresh, relevant and adaptable to meet the needs of each EastNet partner.”

Steve Count, Cambridgeshire County Council Leader, said:

“Connectivity is a crucial factor in the continued socio-economic growth and development of our region and local partners. The decision to work with MLL was made based on a clear demonstration that it would deliver a market-leading service that is not just best value to Cambridgeshire County Council, but to our partners and to the wider community as well. This partnership will give us access to a cost-effective full fibre network to allow us to deliver on our digital strategy and support our citizens now and into the future.”

MLL Telecom will initially extend its core network to Huntingdon and Northampton, while Cityfibre will work to deliver cost effective gigabit fibre connectivity in the Cambridge city locality.