BT to become a public sector network service provider

BT Wholesale is set to become a key supplier to Government Conveyance Network (GCN) services which will interconnect the Cabinet Office's Public Sector Network (PSN) programme.

The GCN will be one of the enablers for shared services, cloud-based services and datacentre rationalisation, which will deliver benefits to the public sector while reducing cost and complexity.

According to a survey conducted by Cisco, the PSN could cut government IT costs by over 6%.

In order to supply PSN-compliant networks to its government customer base, BT Global Services will connect to the GCN via BT Wholesale.

GCN will deliver a common secure communications backbone to PSN service providers covering all parts of the public sector. BT's GCN service will be built on its core UK MPLS (multi-protocol label switching) network, which is CESG (Communications-Electronics Security Group) accredited to the 2.2.4 standard for security and performance that meets government requirements for the PSN.