Paradigm Secure Communications, a subsidiary of Astrium Services, has entered a service agreement with the Ministry of Defence, on behalf of the Cabinet Office. Paradigm will supply Cabinet Office crisis management facilities and key crisis management centres across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with a High Integrity Telecommunications System (HITS). The service has been developed to support Responders in fulfilling their obligations within the Civil Contingencies Act and significantly increases the Government’s preparedness to support regional / local government in the event of short / no notice disruptions to the national telecommunications infrastructure.
The service capitalises on the successful Skynet 5 satellite communications PFI programme and marks the start of a new phase for Paradigm under which it is able to offer enhanced services to civil government departments and agencies. Keith Norton, Managing Director Paradigm said: “Up until this year, Paradigm’s focus was entirely on rolling out the new Skynet infrastructure and delivering first class service to MoD as our foundation customer. Now that the infrastructure is bedded in, including three new state of the art satellites and an upgraded ground network, we are able to turn more attention to exploring ways of expanding the use of this unique asset in the national interest.”
The HITS service comprises a satellite communications overlay, complemented by terrestrial links, and will provide a resilient communications capability that is not reliant on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). To supplement flexibility the service includes a number of satellite communications terminals. The terminals are distributed across the country enabling them to be dispatched anywhere at very short notice by land or air. The use of open standards allows interconnection of the HITS with other current and future UK Government IT systems.
The HITS services will be fully managed on behalf of the Cabinet Office from Paradigm’s 24/7 fully redundant operational headquarters in Wiltshire. Paradigm will support the regional sites from a number of EADS and other partner operational centres across the UK to ensure a rapid response to any local problems with the infrastructure.
The service will begin operation with the first sites going live in Q4 2009, with all sites and transportable terminals fully operational by 2012.
Keith Norton, Managing Director Paradigm said: “This demonstrates how excellence in service delivery within an MOD/PFI contractual environment, can be exploited by other government departments to provide best in class service and value for money.”