MoD extends DFTS deal with BT

The contract, which starts in July 2012, is being paid for from an £810m fund that the MoD has put aside for fixed telecommunications services and other purposes. "The services provided under the contract are vital to the daily operation of the MoD and the armed forces, both in peace and at war," a spokesperson for the MoD told GC News. "It is expected to achieve net operational and financial benefits in excess of £90m and, through taking full advantage of BT's 21st century network programme, will achieve improvements in performance and security which would otherwise be unachievable." Under the terms of the deal, BT will ensure "improved ability to access and share secure information". A transformation programme will also begin immediately as part of the extension of the current agreement. BT will undertake a number of projects, including a major network upgrade. BT said that an increase in available bandwidth and a reduction in latency will improve the application and security performance of the network. BT said that since its inception the DFTS, which reaches more than 2,000 sites, has saved the MoD about £700m. It interconnects more than 230,000 users across the UK, Germany and Cyprus and carries 750,000 calls a day. It also transfers around 43m email annually.