Scottish fire service agrees new £3m deal for IT network upgrade

THE Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has agreed a £3 million contract to upgrade its IT network nationwide.

The deal, with MLL Telecom, will see network upgrades at more than 360 fire stations throughout Scotland.

The four-year Wide Area Network (WAN) contract will see larger offices benefit from fullfibre connectivity, while more challenging rural locations will benefit from a hybrid approach using superfast, 4G and DSL technologies. The digital transformation is due to be completed in December.

Sandra Fox, head of information and communications technology at SFRS, said: “MLL is proven as a reliable network services partner capable of providing cost-effective, flexible and future-proof WAN solutions to the public sector.

“MLL’S SD-WAN and engineering services will ensure SFRS can continue to depend on resilient high-quality voice and data services as well as have a flexible and future-proof solution that will underpin essential ICT services in line with our ongoing digital transformation.”

James Keirnan, MLL telecom’s regional director for Scotland, said: “With our knowledge of the Scottish landscape, agile leadingedge technology, in-house network operations and field engineering capabilities, we are confident of meeting the demanding timescales of this challenging project.

“Winning SFRS cements MLL Telecom’s position as a provider of critical infrastructure to the Scottish public sector.”