Exponential-e Secures WAN Contract for Lincolnshire County Council in England

Business communications and broadband provider Exponential-e has been awarded a 5-year Wide Area Network (WAN) Services contract by Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) in England. The deal will see the ISP deliver and manage a modernised Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) across more than 200 sites throughout the county.

Procured under the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Network Services 3 Framework, Exponential-e will be tasked with replacing the LCC’s existing and “outdated” Public Services Network (PSN) infrastructure with a fully managed Cisco SD-WAN. The new platform should provide a unified, centrally orchestrated, secure and high-performing network environment with improved resilience and secure integration with cloud-based services.

The new platform will also support Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) services, including Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue with encrypted integration and centralised HSCN access. The solution will integrate with the Council’s operational and security platforms, incorporating secure-by-design principles, centralised monitoring, incident-response systems, automated failover capabilities, dynamic routing and flexible network segmentation to support a zero-trust security approach and fast onboarding of new sites.

Tom Baker, CIO at Lincolnshire County Council, said:

“Our vision is to build a technological ecosystem that not only supports our ongoing operational needs but meets the expectations of our citizens in digital delivery as a time of Local Government change. As an expert with technical ability and proven public sector expertise, Exponential-e will be critical in improving our ability to manage ongoing and accelerated change.”

Afshin Attari, Director of Public Sector and Unified Platforms at Exponential-e, said:

“We are proud to partner with Lincolnshire County Council to deliver a modern, resilient and secure network infrastructure that supports the delivery of critical public services across the county.

By implementing a centrally managed SD-WAN architecture, the Council will benefit from greater agility, enhanced security and improved operational resilience, while creating a scalable, sovereign platform capable of supporting future innovation and evolving digital service requirements.”

The contract was signed in March 2026 and will run until March 2031. Implementation has already begun, with service go-live dates due to be confirmed in the near future as part of a phased-deployment.