Global Crossing wins $80m UK government contract

Global Crossing has been awarded an extension to its managed communications contract with the UK government worth an expected $80m over the next four years.

Around 110,000 end users in 90 government departments will be moved to IP telephony and eventually fully converged communications. The existing arrangement already means over 20 million voice calls are handled per day over the Global Crossing infrastructure.

The telco - which not long ago emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a sharp decline at the end of the internet boom - will partner with Siemens Communications to upgrade the government's current set-up.

An IP virtual private network which uses a popular protocol called MPLS for added flexibility will form the basis of secure networking, across all types of government sites, from the large to the small served by DSL connections.

The government is also using Global Crossing to enable staff to work remotely and securely from home and other locations.