MLL Telecom Signs Managed Fibre Deal with East Sussex Council

Business UK ISP MLL Telecom has won a 10-year managed network services contract with East Sussex County Council (ESCC), which is valued at over £20m and will see them replace the existing Link Consortium this year and streamline the procurement of a wide range of Full Fibre managed network services.

The contract relates to the South East Grid, which is a cross sector collaborative consortium of public sector organisations in the South East. The grid’s members work together to improve public services for citizens and achieve the best value for money from adopting a collaborative approach to ICT procurements. Consortium membership is open to all Public Bodies in the South East of England, an area defined as NUTS code UKJ.

MLL’s contract is part of a new 15-year Framework Agreement managed by East Sussex County Council which replaces the existing Link Consortium this year and is designed to streamline the procurement of a wide range of Full Fibre managed network services. Initially these will be available to more than 500 sites – including schools – across the region from Brighton and Hove City Council, to Lewes, Wealden and Rother District Councils, Eastbourne and Hastings Borough Councils, and East Sussex Fire and Rescue. Plans are also underway to extend the Framework to include Health Services.

In addition, councils and any public sector organisations in other areas of southeast England, including Essex, Kent, Hampshire and Surrey, will be eligible to procure the same range of WAN services. These are to include high-speed PSN/HSCN access, managed WiFi, Firewall and Content Filtering. Following MLL’s recommendation, the South East Grid will also take advantage of SDWAN services, managed by MLL.

Matt Scott, CDIO at East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Councils, said:

“MLL’s technology expertise and comprehensive network management services are well aligned to our requirements to move to Full Fibre, providing stakeholders across our region and further afield with high-speed access. This infrastructure will be a vital part of our technology foundations and will underpin the delivery of public services in the digital era.”

Gail Harvey, MLL’s Business Development Director, said:

“We are delighted the South East Grid has appointed MLL to manage, transition and future proof their and their future partners’ network requirements. This is a major win and a milestone event for MLL not only in terms of contract value but also in demonstrating how we continue to compete successfully against much larger competitors on overall quality, plus our ability to demonstrate the real social value of our proposed managed network solutions across metropolitan and rural areas.”

From December 2021, MLL will take on and manage the existing network infrastructure from the incumbent provider before commencing its transformation to Full Fibre, which will be carried out in tandem with CityFibre and Openreach. Completion is expected by early 2023.