A three-year contract worth £1.8 million has been awarded from the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) to MLL Telecom, the public sector managed network integrators, for a new software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN).

Set to be deployed by August this year, the integrated mixed carrier WAN solution is being established in all 54 of SCTS’s sites across Scotland.

MLL’s solution will support the facilitation of virtual hearings, remote juries, and the livestreaming of court proceedings, for example, as well as offer staff reliable connection to important admin-related applications.

The network features dual—rather than single—circuits, and firewalls from cybersecurity company Fortinet. MLL’s Network Operations Centre is set to monitor and assist the SD-WAN on a 24/7 basis.

The contract was offered after a competitive tender process, with increased resilience, security, and bandwidth availability all cited as high priorities—and in line with SCTS’s technical roadmap.

Speaking on MLL’s technology and the new contract, Mike Milligan, SCTS executive director of change and digital innovation, said: “MLL’s provision of a secure, reliable and high speed SD-WAN, matched the SCTS technical roadmap and design and will maximise our ability to support the courts and members of the public.

“The provision of this flexible and highly responsive service is designed to support the introduction of emerging digital capabilities that will benefit the entire justice system.”

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Senior project manager at MLL, James Stamford, also added: “We are delighted to be providing SCTS with a modern high quality SD-WAN solution which is aligned to their requirements for ensuring a highly efficient, secure and reliable administrative services to the judiciaries of Scotland.

“This project brings the additional challenges of connecting many older, often listed buildings along with the remoteness of certain highland and island locations.

“MLL is therefore working very closely with our chosen carrier partners to ensure the smooth delivery of our proposed solution within a short timeframe.”