Cable & Wireless powers ahead with a fifteen-year National Grid agreement
COMMUNICATIONS group Cable & Wireless (C&W) yesterday secured a 15-year deal with National Grid, worth £207m, to support electricity transmission in the UK.
C&W will design, deliver and manage a telecoms network for National Grid, becoming a key player in a new era of power transmission, and challenging BT’s dominant position as a next a generation network (NGN) service provider.
“Our ability to offer a complete managed next generation network (NGN) service means we now have a strategically important relationship with National Grid to 2026,” said C&W chief executive Jim Marsh.
The group will be paid £108m to supply and operate the fibre optic network which will underpin the core operational functions of National Grid, for a period of 15 years.
It will also receive £99m to provide managed services for the overall operational telecommunications network infrastructure for five years.
Last week, the government’s Digital Britain report backed the roll-out of high-speed NGNs to be accessed across the UK.