The National Roads Telecommunications Service (NRTS)
connects the company’s seven regional control centres,
the national traffic operations centre and the 30,000
roadside technology assets including message signs,
CCTV cameras and emergency roadside telephones.
Today, 18 December 2017, Highways England has announced
the award of the £450 million second NRTS contract, to
telent Technology Services Ltd.
Chief Information Officer at Highways England, Tony
Malone said:
Safety is at the heart of everything we do and this
network, the central nervous system for England’s
motorways, enables us to operate safe roads. We are
pleased to be working with telent Technology Services
to deliver the reliability, resilience and innovation
that will enable us to keep drivers safe and informed
on our roads.
The 30,000-plus items of on road technology equipment
for which Highways England is responsible, include
3,327 CCTV cameras, 3,774 message signs, 229 weather
stations and 7,155 SOS phones. The network enables
traffic information services to provide accurate,
real-time travel information to drivers and travel news
providers. The message signs help warn drivers of
potential hazards and display real-time journey
information.
The new service will renew equipment and deliver a
service that will provide an open, flexible and
scalable telecommunications network to meet the future
needs of the business; it will also enable and support
Highways England in the development of innovative
services such as ‘connected vehicles’ and 5G.
Additionally the technology will continue to underpin
the development and operation of the smart motorway and
expressway programmes that are central to the
modernisation of England’s motorways and will help
ensure the network continue to drive economic growth
and prosperity.
The new contract will run from 16 March 2018 for 7
years.
