BT and Nortel do military service

BT has announced a partnership with Nortel to provide managed IP services to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that could, they say, result in improved security around emerging VoIP technology.

The partnership is part of the £1.5bn Defence Fixed Telecommunications Service (DFTS) between BT and the MoD to build and manage a co-ordinated communicated infrastructure for the Army, Royal Navy and RAF.

The infrastructure, which includes Nortel's switching and VoIP technology valued at around $42m (£23m), will provide WAN services in over 2000 locations including voice services to over 200,000 subscribers and Ethernet connectivity to around 150,000 terminals.

Successful migration to the new IP based services is ensured, say the companies, by the construction of a £3m dedicated testing facility in Harlow, Essex. The Network Development Lab (NDL), officially opened on Wednesday, is a replica of the MoD's telecommunications network and includes all the existing equipment currently deployed in the real network plus any new equipment to be rolled out in the future.

BT and the Defence Communications Services Administration (DCSA), the operator of the wider DFTS project, plan to use the lab as a showcase for any work to emerge from the project that could have benefits for the private sector.

John Anderson, director of BT Government, said any innovation in security of IP communications - particularly voice traffic - could be passed on. "The fact that the lab has been set up for the DFTS means there will be benefits from security and reliability for VoIP. The MoD requirements for security could cross over into the commercial world and have benefits for the financial sector for the instance," he said.

But the use of VoIP for military purposes may be met with scepticism by some security experts who have warned that the emerging technology has some potential fundamental security issues.

Responding to the security fears, BT's Anderson said both his company and the MoD tested the technology thoroughly before deciding to implement the IP system. "The fact that the MoD has gone through a thorough investigation of its own of the technology and then BT has carried out its own testing indicate that those investigations have been made," he said.

The aim of the original DFTS project was to unite the disparate communications networks of the various armed forces which previously had distinct systems that did not interoperate effectively. "The aim was to join-up the separate fragmented networks that the armed forces had to; the RAF had a network, the Army had a network, the Navy had a network and we upgraded them onto a single network platform," said Anderson.

Andrew Donoghue writes for ZDNet UK