Walsall council details ambitious public sector network plans

The network will initially connect schools, but could be extended to NHS, police and other council sites

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council has replaced its existing contracts with BT and Virgin Media to create a bespoke public sector network that will connect 75 of the borough's 129 schools.

Walsall selected Updata Infrastructure to provide the service, and the contract is valued at £908,000 over three years.

The project to get the schools connected is already under way, and is expected to be completed in July or August of this year.

The network will provide a combination of 2-20Mbit/s Ethernet in the first mile and fibre connections, and will be geared towards data traffic.

There is, however, potential to extend these services to include IP telephony and teleheatlh initiatives, the council said.

The schools that aren't being connected are currently tied into contracts with Virgin Media, and it will be up to each individual site to decide to connect to the network when their contracts expire.

Once the network is connected to the education sites, other corporate sites are likely to be included, Sharon Worrall, strategic supplier manager at Walsall, told Computing.

"Corporate sites currently being considered are all of Walsall's council office sites, which could be supporting any of our directorate business functions – social care, children's services, libraries and leisure centres," said Worrall.

"It could also accommodate other public bodies such as the NHS, PCT, Police and Fire Service," she added.

The networks supplying these corporate sites are currently being provided by either Virgin Media or BT, but when these contracts expire, Worrall is fairly certain different providers will be chosen.

"We need a network where we can increase and decrease bandwidth as we wish, and this isn't something BT or Virgin Media were able to offer under the existing contract," said Worrall.

"If we want to get the return on investment from the Updata network, we will need to upgrade our other circuits. As a result I am pretty sure that when the current contract ends with BT and Virgin, we will be switching to another provider," she added.

For non-school sites, the BT contract expires in July 2012, and Virgin Media in March 2013.

Although no projection figures were available, Walsall expects to see savings three years after the project completes.

"When and how the other corporate sites connect will have to be discussed nearer the time. There will have to be a negotiation process," added Worrall.

Walsall is also in talks with other Black Country metropolitan borough councils – Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton – to collaborate on a wider shared services initiative.

"We are working closely with our neighbouring councils and shared services is a consideration for us," said Worrall.

"It makes sense to look at what we are doing with out network as a blueprint for closer collaboration in the future with our neighbours," she added.

"Whether we are to do this by having them connect to our public sector network is still being considered."