NHS signs deal to bring Elon Musk's Starlink to Cumbria
Starlink has been awarded a five-year contract worth £85,000 by the NHS North of England to provide internet services to rural GP and administrative services in Cumbria and the north east.
The deal involves the installation of 15 Starlink receivers as part of a wider programme to improve connection across the region.
A spokesman for the NHS North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) said: "This procurement is part of a wider programme, launched in December 2023, to refresh the connectivity to the internet, HSCN (Health and Social Care Network) and NECS datacentres covering GP practices and NENC ICB offices.
"In order to ensure value for money and to address the unavailability of fibre technology in rural sites, the programme undertook a procurement for 15 Starlink receivers and install services.
"Following implementation of the whole programme there will be fully encrypted protection to all secure traffic from the sites in the same way that VPN technologies provide for remote users. All NHS security considerations and governance will be provided, with NECS technical, security and governance teams closely involved."
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