BT to provide new network for Europe’s first satellite navigation system
BT announced today it has signed a contract with multinational space service company Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company, for new network services placed at the heart of EGNOS, the first pan-European satellite navigation system. BT will implement and manage a high availability, ultra-resilient network to carry positioning data for safety critical applications such as those used in airline and ship navigation. The network will connect more than fifty monitoring stations, control centres and uplink locations - including remote areas in Europe and Africa.
Due to the critical nature of the services delivered by EGNOS, ultra-resilience is fully embedded in the project. The network service is based on a combination of BT’s IP Connect Global offering and satellite services. The most vital parts of the network take advantage of BT’s dual core network capability - with networks being physically separated - providing higher levels of availability and service continuity.
BT has been serving EGNOS’s wide area network needs since 2001. This contract also builds on the expertise drawn from BT’s contribution to other European space programmes, such as Galileo .
Corrado Sciolla, CEO BT Europe & Latin America, said: “EGNOS provides and requires a very high level of accuracy and reliability. We designed their new network to provide them with the greatest possible flexibility.
BT fully understands the crucial role played by network services in the ability of global multinationals and public organisations to run their mission critical operations. I am extremely proud of EGNOS’s continued trust in our people and service delivery and look forward to the continuation of our relationship.”
– ENDS –
Notes to editors:
BT IP Connect Global is part of BT Connect, BT’s portfolio of intelligent network solutions. The most vital parts of the EGNOS network will take advantage of BT’s MPLS dual core network capability - with networks being physically separated - providing higher levels of availability and service continuity.
EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) is the first pan-European satellite navigation system. It augments the US GPS satellite navigation system and makes it suitable for safety critical applications. EGNOS is a joint project of ESA, the European Commission and Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. It is Europe’s first activity in the field of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and is a precursor to Galileo, the full global satellite navigation system under development in Europe.
Telespazio is the main partner of ESSP, the European Satellite Services Provider, responsible for the provision of EGNOS services on behalf of the European GNSS Agency (GSA). Telespazio is headquartered in Rome, Italy and a joint venture between Finmeccanica (67%) and Thales Group (33%).
