Northumbria Police invests in improved network connectivity

Northumbria Police has agreed a £2.1 million contract to improve internet access for more than 5,000 employees while reducing the force’s annual telecommunications bill.

Updata Infrastructure has been awarded a five-year contract for the provision of a managed wide area network (WAN) service to deliver improved network connectivity and faster access to key applications for police staff across Northumbria.

It will result in additional bandwidth and faster network speeds to force buildings.

Ian Woodward, director of ICT at Northumbria Police, said: “This contract with Updata supports our commitment to reduce operational costs and provide better network services and ICT facilities across the force. We look forward to working with Updata over the next five years to improve our network, better utilise our budget and continue to deliver a high standard of policing across Northumbria.”

Bruce Strang, managing director at Updata, which is now part of Capita IT Enterprise, said its ability to deliver “secure network services, specifically designed to meet the strict information assurance requirements of UK public sector organisations ensures sensitive public data is as safe as possible”.