BT will provide NATS with network architecture and cybersecurity services
BT has announced a seven-year contract with NATS — formerly known as National Air Traffic Services — to provide network architecture and cybersecurity services with a focus on improving safety of U.K. flight operations.
NATS has two air traffic control centers, one at Swanwick in Hampshire, England and one at Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland, that provide en-route air traffic control services for U.K. flights. The company manages these services for more than 2.5 million flights each year at 14 U.K. airports, as well as and at Gibraltar Airport and Hong Kong International Airport.
As part of its digital transformation, the aviation company is implementing a technology program that its Supply Chain and Facilities Management Director Tim Bullock said is designed to “keep the skies safe and support [its] customers worldwide.”
“We select organisations at the top of their game technically, to join our collaborative ecosystem of partners,” Bullock continued. “I’m delighted with the partnership we have formed and look forward to working together for many years to come to deliver great solutions for our customers.”
Per the agreement, BT will be responsible for network provision and cybersecurity across the NATS strategic supplier ecosystem, and for consolidating and modernizing the entire network and developing enhanced cybersecurity capabilities, such as a new proactive central coordination point for cyber resilience.
“Secure, high-bandwidth connectivity is essential in keeping the UK’s air traffic moving in the future – so after many years of building world-class networks and cyber security for providers of critical national infrastructure, we are looking forward to delivering this now for NATS,” commented Andy Rowe, director of central government at BT.
