SSE Enterprise Telecoms is collaborating with long-term providerpartner, NYnet to support the infrastructure development of an NHS ExtendedAccess Hub in North Shields, Tyne and Wear in the UK.

The hub was established to help medical staff support Covid-19patients that were not deemed as requiring urgent hospital care, but stillneeded treatment in a secure facility. For this, robust, resilient and reliableconnectivity was essential. It was agreed that Ethernet would be the bestsolution.

Having worked with SSE Enterprise Telecoms for a number ofyears, NYnet contacted its provisioning team to acquire the technology, highlightingthe importance of quick delivery of this service to support the Covid-19response. Given the project?s critical importance, timings as much as possible,and delivery of the circuit was completed in eight working days. To put it intocontext, a typical timeline can be between 40 and 60 days. Once the circuit wasdeployed, NYnet was able to quickly install a router and connect the site tothe Health & Social Care Network (HSCN).

Zoe Oxley, senior project and deployment manager at NYnet said:?The Extended Access Hub is a critical component in the North East?s fightagainst Covid-19. As soon as the medical team reached out to us forconnectivity support, we understood the importance of procuring and deliveringa reliable connectivity solution as quickly as possible. This well managed,smooth process is a great display of how the industry can support ourfront-line key workers, should we all pull together.?

Added Simon Willmott, sector director for service provider atSSE Enterprise Telecoms: ?We are living in challenging times, where thereliance on our blue light services has never been so great. The successfulcompletion of this deployment has been a real team effort and is a testament tothe commitment of businesses across the sector in coming together during thepandemic to make sure the lives of those on the front line, and their patients,are a little bit easier.?