The Defence Fixed Telecommunications System (DFTS) Public Private Partnership contract with BT has been extended by five years to July 2012.
The contract extension, is worth in excess of £1.5 Billion and will secure the continued delivery of essential telecommunications services. This will bring the total value of the DFTS contract to over £3 Billion. Lord Bach said: "The extended contract will secure the continuation of voice, data and video telecommunications which are vital to the daily operations of the Department and the UK's Armed Forces. It will involve the introduction of new technology, producing benefits which contribute to operational effectiveness and the Department's future capabilities. It will provide substantial savings, in the order of £15M a year, and improve the ability of the Department to ensure ongoing value for money."
"The extended contract will also contribute to the Defence Modernisation Programme by maintaining stable wide area network telecommunication services, which will be critical to the successful deployment of the Defence Information Infrastructure Future (DII(F)) project."
The DFTS (Future) extension to the original DFTS contract aims to see improvements in technology involving the introduction of a new digital core network allowing the rationalisation of DFTS services, which enables BT to offer lower tariffs to the Department.
The DFTS (F) extension to the original DFTS contract will provide stable wide area network services which will be critical to the successful deployment of the Defence Information Infrastructure Future (DII(F)) project. The latter is a key enabler of the Defence Modernisation Programme.
Quelle: Publictechnology, 04.04.2005
