The RNLI Links Lifeboat Stations with £4m Next Generation Network from ntl:Telewest Business

• Next Generation Network connects 235 volunteer lifeboat stations and another 23 individual sites

• New network will provide volunteers with converged voice, video and digital media

• Customer focused design links geographically dispersed sites

ntl:Telewest Business, the supplier of communications services to the public and private sectors, today announced that it is helping the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to link all 258 of its sites, including 235 lifeboat stations. The charity that provides 24 hour life saving services at sea, will connect volunteers with converged voice, data and video services across all sites in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands via a £4m Next Generation Network (NGN).

Founded in 1824, the RNLI is regarded as the fourth emergency service and has remained the number one rescue service for saving lives at sea. Since it was set up, the lifeboat crews and lifeguards of RNLI have saved over 137,000 lives, rescuing an average of 21 people every day.

The RNLI needed to upgrade its infrastructure to maintain consistent Quality of Service across all of its sites, manage the growing amount of traffic flowing through the network and ensure that volunteers had fast access to information to communicate efficiently and effectively. The charity carried out a full tender process and selected ntl:Telewest Business to deploy an IPVPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network).

Chris Bartlett, Voice and Telecoms Manager at the RNLI said, “We were impressed with not just the technological offering from ntl:Telewest Business, but also the overall commitment and expertise that the support team provided us with. We were aware that each site, given some of the remote locations, would pose unique challenges. The support team took the time to understand these and work through the designs to provide us with solutions that matched our needs.”

ntl:Telewest Business designed the IPVPN to meet the Quality of Service standards for RNLI’s future strategy of transporting voice (VoIP), digital media content and data across the network. The IPVPN includes two 50MB resilient links, with 100MB scalable bandwidth to RNLI’s headquarters in Poole and 10MB Ethernet services backed up by 1MB DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Datastream services for its regional sites.

David Astley, Head of Health & Emergency Services at ntl:Telewest Business commented: “It is a privilege to be working with a charity such as the RNLI whose service over the years has been invaluable to the public. For an organisation where time equates to lives saved, reliability and speed is paramount. The majority of the RNLI’s lifeboat stations are across the country’s coastlines and we needed to deploy the right technology to overcome the unique challenges posed by each site.”

ntl:Telewest Business was one of the first companies in Europe to deliver IPVPN with Quality of Service prioritisation specifically for real-time traffic, such as Voice over IP. The IPVPN for the RNLI has been specially designed to link geographically dispersed sites to offer flexibility and security, a key consideration for such organisations.

Chris Bartlett concluded: “The ntl:Telewest Business support team was also able to offer a solution that met our requirement for future internet services that will help us to cement relationships with local communities and drive new membership and donations. The RNLI’s vision is to be recognised universally as the most effective, innovative lifeboat and lifeguard service. We see our NGN as an integral part of our strategy to help us achieve this.”

About ntl:Telewest Business

ntl:Telewest Business has the most technically advanced of the UK’s two national networks. Its vast nation-wide Next Generation Network provides businesses, public sector organisations and service providers across the UK with a complete portfolio of advanced data, internet and voice services. The £13billion network is flexible, scaleable and is already built out to more than 38,000 street cabinets across the UK.

As part of a commitment to deliver superior customer service, ntl:Telewest Business sales and support teams are located in close proximity to its customers in over 40 centres across the UK.

ntl:Telewest Business is trusted to provide critical communications to high profile customers including: Birmingham City Council, Yorkshire Water and EasyJet.

To subscribe to our press releases please visit: www.ntltelewestbusiness.co.uk/feeds

For further information go to http://www.ntltelewestbusiness.co.uk/

ntl:Telewest Business press contacts:

Louise O’Brien                                               

ntl:Telewest Business                                    

T: 01256 752769                                       
E:mailto:louise.obrien@virginmedia.co.uk

Chris Measures

Rainier PR

T: 020 7494 6583
E: cmeasures@rainierpr.co.uk

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates over 230 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and has more than 100 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 137,000 lives. The RNLI is a charity registered in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

RNLI media contacts

For more information please telephone Laura Fennimore, RNLI Public Relations Officer, on 01202 663181, email lfennimore@rnli.org.uk or contact RNLI Public Relations on 01202 336789 or pressoffice@rnli.org.uk.

RNLI online

For more information on the RNLI please visit http://www.rnli.org.uk/. News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI Press Centre www.rnli.org.uk/press