RNLI links lifeboat stations with next-gen network

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has deployed a £4m Next Generation Network to improve links between its lifeboat stations and volunteers across the UK.

ntl:Telewest Business’s IPVPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network) will provide converged voice, data and video services for the lifeboat charity’s 235 often remote lifeboat stations and 23 individual sites.

Increased network traffic and the desire to maintain a consistent service quality across all sites promoted the RNLI to upgrade its infrastructure and ensure that all volunteers could access information quickly and efficiently.

The IPVPN comprises two 50MB resilient links and includes 100MB scalable bandwidth to the charity’s Poole headquarters and 10MB Ethernet services backed by 1 MB DSL Datastream services for its regional sites.

“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,” said Chris Bartlett, network and telecoms manager at the RNLI.

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