Post Office awards broadband contract ‘worth £500m’

The Post Office has awarded Fujitsu a five-year contract to deliver a broadband network and customer care and billing solutions.

Fujitsu will be replacing incumbent suppliers including BT and Logica, as it takes over responsibility for around half a million subscribers to the Post Office’s own-brand telephone and broadband service. In 2007, the Post Office signed a four-year deal with BT worth up to £750 million for the provision of wholesale communications services to the Post Office for resale to its customers.

As part of the new contract, internet service provider (ISP) TalkTalk will deliver the broadband and telephony services, while Capita will provide the customer contact centre and telecoms billing systems specialists MDS will supply the consumer billing and settlement solutions.

According to analyst house TechMarketView, the contract could “easily be worth £500 million”.

“All we know for sure is that TalkTalk’s share is expected to exceed £100 million,” said Anthony Miller, managing partner at TechMarketView.

He added: “Fujitsu’s role goes way beyond its ‘traditional’ infrastructure services support homeland.

“As prime contractor, Fujitsu will be overseeing the entire migration process, both of the network and of the applications. This is real ‘up the value chain’ work and very strategic for Fujitsu. So, a great result for Fujitsu UK&I CEO Duncan Tait and his team.”

Fujitsu has been a partner to the Post Office since 1996.