Cable&Wireless Worldwide (CWW) has won a £10.3 million contract with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
The contract is for London-based CWW to provide voice services, including online video and audio communication, across all of DFID’s 44 sites. The services are to enable fast and reliable connection and better communication between DFID staff worldwide.
This is expected to help the DFID deliver more effective aid to poorer countries; and is also expected to increase inter-departmental collaboration.
It is hoped that the contract will save the DFID around £9 million over its five-and-half year term as the government seeks to save money via a wave of spending cuts, in an effort to reduce the national deficit.
In September, CWW won an £82 million contract with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). On signing the contract, the FCO said they also expected savings. CWW said that flight emissions and travel costs would be reduced through an increased use of reliable video conferencing.
Commenting on the DFID contract, Jim Marsh, chief executive of CWW, said: “I am delighted to announce another important customer win in our public sector business and the second contract on our global telecoms framework.
“By utilising the one network, both DFID and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office stand to benefit from greater collaboration and increased efficiencies, all of which supports the government’s broader Public Sector Network strategy.”
CWW provides a range of managed voice, data and IP-based services and applications to large corporates, multinational companies, governments, carrier customers and resellers across the UK, Asia Pacific, India, Middle East & Africa, Continental Europe and North America.
Stretching over more than 500,000 kilometres, CWW’s global next-generation network includes the UK's largest fibre network for business communications, providing connectivity to 153 countries.
