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2003

THUS Supports Ordnance Survey's E-strategy with ADSL Home-working Solution

THUS plc, one of the UK's leading providers of voice, networking, Internet and contact centre services, today announced that it had been selected to provide Ordnance Survey, the National Mapping Agency of Great Britain, with a broadband solution for up to 250 of its staff who work from home, field offices or on the road. This strategic investment in broadband is part of Ordnance Survey's E-strategy, which is equipping the organisation to be a key player in the new economy.

Ordnance Survey's digital and graphic map products already underpin more than £100bn worth of economic activity in Britain each year. Map making begins with Ordnance Survey's nationwide network of surveyors and data collection staff, many of whom work out of local field offices or their own homes. They use state-of-the-art global positioning equipment and hand-held pen computers to capture the latest changes in Britain's landscape, with some 5,000 updates made every day. This information, which often includes large graphic files, is then sent to Ordnance Survey's Southampton headquarters, where it is databanked and developed into maps and other digital products.

Until now the surveyors have had to rely upon standard dial-up connections to send and receive information to the organisation's headquarters. Following its agreement with THUS, users will now benefit from the Demon Express broadband product, which offers a fast and permanent connection so users do not need to spend valuable time reconnecting to the Internet. Demon Express will also be rolled out to Ordnance Survey's directors and key sales staff.

There is an increasing awareness in the business community that failure to adopt broadband will damage competitiveness. The Communications Management Association's (CMA) market survey for 2002, which captured the views of 422 ICT professionals from businesses and organisations across the public and private sector, found that 71% of those questioned believed their competitiveness was suffering due to a lack of broadband access. Building upon these findings, two thirds of communications managers stated that they planned to invest in broadband within the next year.

"We are totally re-engineering Ordnance Survey, equipping ourselves to be a key player in the new economy," said Ed Parsons, the mapping agency's Chief Technology Officer. "The E-strategy is at the heart of our activities. We are establishing a market-led public service and business operation that is increasingly recognised as being proactive and driven by customers users and partners. Broadband is a stepping-stone in delivering on our vision to be content provider of choice for location-based information in the new economy., enabling us to work more flexibly, efficiently and speedily on behalf of our customers."

"We are excited by this opportunity to demonstrate our capability to provide high-quality services across our state-of-the-art network." said Bill Allan, Chief Executive for THUS. "We have developed a solution that addresses Ordnance Survey's current requirement while also providing an easy migration path for possible future service expansion. This is an excellent reference case for the benefits broadband can deliver businesses and organisations."