IBM secures £1.6bn Emergency Services Network deal


New commercial documents rubber stamp previous reports that vendor, working with mobile phone maker Samsung, has beaten BT to secure major tech agreement to run for the next seven years

IBM has been confirmed as the Home Office’s choice as lead supplier partner for a £1.6bn contract to provide “user services” for the UK’s new Emergency Services Network.

The services in question encompass overseeing the design and construction and construction of ESN, as well as the delivery of core computing infrastructure and software. The deal – which came into effect on 16 December and runs until the end of 2031 – also covers the provision of support services and the management of devices for about 250,000 users across police, ambulance and fire services, as well as about a further 50,000 representatives of central or local government. Functionality addressed by the engagement includes core ‘push-to-talk’ voice communications, as well as video calling and data-sharing.

A newly published contract notice adds: “The… supplier will provide end-to-end systems integration (including interfaces and testing services) for the ESN including, but not limited to providing public safety communications services (including developing and operating the public safety applications), providing the necessary telecommunications infrastructure, user device management, customer support, and service management.”

The contract is valued at £1.63bn, inclusive of VAT. This is an increase of £576m compared with the estimate of £1.07bn provided when the bidding process was launched in May 2023.

While IBM is the lead supplier, the notice indicates that about 63% of spending will be accounted for by services delivered by sub-contracted third parties.

Device-maker Samsung is IBM’s foremost partner for the contract, while other companies involved in delivery will include Ericsson, Frequentis, Exponential-E and Palo Alto Networks.


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The notice indicates that IBM won the contract in contest against one other bid. It has been widely reported that this alternative proposal was submitted by  BT – a bid which had been considered favourite to win the deal.

The choice of the IBM-Samsung submission means that work to deliver ESN will have a broader supplier base – as BT, along with its subsidiary EE, has already won the other major supplier contract for the project: a £2.2bn “mobile services” agreement awarded in August 2024.

The confirmation of IBM as ESN’s user services provider comes almost exactly two years after former supplier Motorola Solutions was axed from the programme – as exclusively revealed by PublicTechnology.

Since then, Motorola and government have become embroiled in contentious legal challenges after regulators imposed price controls and ruled that the tech firm was overcharging by hundreds of millions of pounds for the provision of the existing Airwave network used by the emergency services.

That ongoing saga is one of a number of setbacks encountered by the ESN programme since its launch in 2015. The project’s current scheduled delivery date of 2029 is a decade later than originally planned, while overall costs have doubled from initial projections to a new total of £12bn.

A press release issued by IBM referenced “a series of delays by previous suppliers”. The vendor’s UK and Ireland managing partner, Rahul Kalia, added that “we look forward to working with the government to deliver this in a timely and cost-effective manner”.

Minister for policing, fire and crime prevention Dame Diana Johnson said: “Every day our brave emergency services help members of the public facing life-or-death situations. We must do everything we can to maximise the chances of successful outcomes, and communications between frontline staff is critical to ensuring this. This government is working tirelessly to support this project, making sure it is delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner, and IBM will be an important part of bringing the Emergency Services Network online.”

Sam Trendall

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