Energis beats off C&W for Centrica deal

Call centre, internet and VPN contract estimated at £10m over three years...

Energis has won a three-year contract, believed to be worth around £10m, for providing call centre telephony, internet connectivity and virtual private network (VPN) services to Centrica. The telco retained its existing deal for the internet and VPN components of the contract and beat off competition from Cable & Wireless for the call centre network service. All inbound and outbound calls to and from Centrica's UK call centres will be routed over the Energis network leading to "significant" savings. Paul Harris, director of network operations at Centrica, told silicon.com the framework agreement with Energis will make the best of economies of scale and could lead to the firm reselling services in the future. "The call centre deal is quite significant. It will enable us to grow our business far more successfully and compete more effectively." Centrica's call centre platform will be integrated into Energis' own network, saving costs on the onward routing of calls. The rollout is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Just last month Centrica signed a £15m deal with C&W to carry traffic generated by Centrica Telecommunications. Harris said both contracts will run alongside each other and revealed Energis had beaten off competition from C&W for the call centre deal. Harris said: "The Cable & Wireless deal is much more significant but this is not to be sniffed at."