Bavaria: Airbus signs five year telecoms service contract with energy utility

Airbus has signed a five-year service agreement with LEW TelNet, the telecommunications company of the regional energy supplier Lechwerke (LEW) in Bavaria, Germany, to support the highly secure operation of LEW's own digital mobile network.

Airbus will also migrate LEW TelNet’s protected mobile communications platforms to Internet Protocol (IP). This will enable the company to communicate even more securely in the future and expand its systems as required. The move to IP will also pave the way for the use of broadband solutions. In addition, Airbus will provide emergency services and train LEW TelNet employees.

“Airbus presented us with a custom-designed offer that includes flexible grid expansion, on-site service and forward-looking technology. This will allow us to take on and shape the challenges before us in the coming years,” says Christian Böhm, head of communication networks at LEW TelNet.

Airbus began modernising LEW TelNet's secure mobile network in 2015 and first delivered the IP-based TETRA DXTA switch to LEW TelNet. This server, which Airbus claims has 99.999 per cent reliability, can also handle broadband services. As a provider of IT and secure communications services, LEW TelNet supplies encrypted communications technology not only to Lechwerke but also to other regional energy providers in Germany.

“We have successfully equipped numerous companies in the energy sector worldwide with our technology. This experience will benefit all customers, and especially the technology pioneer LEW TelNet,” says Markus Kolland, head of sales in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe for Secure Land Communications at Airbus.