The British Army has awarded a five-year contract to BT Business to deliver a managed Wi-Fi service.
Named MOD Wi-Fi, it will cover 162 Army sites with the potential to expand to other defence customers including the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.
The company said the new service will include a managed firewall, and will cover all buildings on the sites, including offices, training facilities, technical accommodation, workshops and recreation spaces.
The contract will provide a foundation for the roll out of ‘smart bases’ beginning over the next 12 months. These will include smart surveillance and intelligent building entry systems, and monitor energy consumption with the aim of making it more efficient through maximising the occupancy of buildings.
BT has already been working in partnership with the Army to establish a smart base in Larkhill with a digital infrastructure that incorporates fibre broadband and private 5G. The base uses technology such as HD cameras and sensors, facial recognition, smart building entry and management, digital signage to relay tailored messages to different audiences, and secure printing.
Critical delivery
Major General John Collyer, British Army director information, said: “This is another critical delivery under the ambitious British Army Digital Transformation Initiative – Programme THEIA.
“We are thrilled to partner with BT for the Army Estate Wide Internet work – which will deliver ubiquitous internet access across our estate – for business use, research, leisure, gaming, innovation, trials and more. Another leap forward, and I thank the staff of BT and in Army HQ for their Herculean work getting us to this stage. It will make a huge difference for our people and our outputs.”
Ed Stainton, director of major government at BT, said: “Crucially, the contract will also lay the foundation for frontline commands to introduce smarter ways of working, unlocking the benefits of new technologies on MOD Wi-Fi that will provide efficiencies, enhance productivity and increase security.”
The contract marks an expansion of BT’s business with the defence sector, notably its provision of Wi-Fi services to 200 Ministry of Defence sites in the UK, Cyprus and Germany.
Update 6.7.23 - According to a newly published contract award notice, the agreement is valued at £73 million.
Attached documents indicate that it comes in response to sub-optimal connectivity at many sites, and is expected to strengthen the capacity to adopt machine learning and AI.
