Scotland is undergoing a huge digital transformation. At the forefront of this change – set to benefit citizens, businesses and public sector organisations alike – is Commsworld.
The company, founded in 1994, is a major player in the digital journeys of people thanks to its involvement in some of the nation’s largest public sector ICT contracts.
In Glasgow, Commsworld has delivered an enhanced Wide Area Network (WAN) of ultra-fast, pure-fibre connectivity that transformed the city’s schools, libraries and other council buildings.
It is installing, managing and supporting a new robust, scalable and flexible full-fibre network to support the delivery of CCTV and traffic control services across the city. This new network will replace Glasgow City Council’s ageing legacy networks, and support leading-edge Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and 5G network capabilities.
Meanwhile the company has provided end-to-end seamless LAN, WAN and Wi-Fi connectivity for several high-profile major events staged in Glasgow. These include COP26, the Euro 2020 football championships, the TRNSMT festival, the World Pipe Band Championships and the inaugural 11-day UCI Cycling World Championships.
Commsworld also has a history of digital infrastructure success in Edinburgh. It extended the network to a 150km fibre optic network, to become the UK’s first ‘Gigabit City’.
This future-proofed one of the UK’s largest local authorities by connecting 324 council-owned sites, with over 130 schools benefitting from speeds up to 100 times faster than before and 17,000 businesses also having the opportunity use the network.
Not only that, Commsworld had the new WAN fully in place with all sites migrated within nine months – a task that others in the telecom marketplace said would take at least two years.
Now Commsworld is offering the opportunity to provide businesses with a full-fibre connection delivered directly to their doorstep – comparable to connecting residences to a motorway through providing their very own on-ramp.
In Renfrewshire, Commsworld is set to complete the migration and transformation of the council’s WAN as part of its £15m Connectivity as a Service Framework contract to upgrade the council’s digital connectivity and services.
And in North Lanarkshire, the council will have significantly improved access to gigabit-capable fibre broadband years earlier than planned thanks to Commsworld which is significantly boosting school internet access, creating a free public Wi-Fi network, and accelerating the availability of fibre broadband providing download speeds up to one Gigabit-per-second for communities and businesses to access.
The key to this success is Commsworld’s Optical Core Network, completed in June 2020 at a cost of £10m. This next generation network was built specifically for business and has revolutionised the security and resilience of digital infrastructure to organisations the length and breadth of the country – while offering speeds of up to 200 Gigabits per second.
The network has helped Commsworld expand into England, with Northumberland County Council awards it a £22m contract to transform the county’s digital infrastructure over the next 20 years
It will also be central to Commsworld’s biggest and most immediate project, replacing the legacy PSTN network which will be switched off between now and 2025. Many businesses have not planned ahead for this eventuality, which they need to prepare for now.
As 2024 approaches, Commsworld will continue to deliver transformative change through excellent connectivity.