Commercial considerations

When deploying connectivity for critical services or infrastructure it is important to have confidence in the reliability of the service and commercial arrangements. Before undertaking any procurement activity, speak to your organisation’s commercial and procurement specialists. They will help you to understand what commercial routes are available and if there are local policies in place that may impact the direct purchase of a connectivity service.

Be aware that satellite connectivity services can be subject to withdrawal or changes to the terms of service at short notice which may negatively affect sites or applications reliant on this connectivity. Where short term contracts (30 days or less) are in place this risk is exacerbated.

We recommend that if you are deploying these services, you have a robust contingency plan in place for continuity of service in the event of changes affecting service level, contractual arrangements or withdrawal of the solution.

Some suppliers and resellers are beginning to offer tailored and discounted packages for public sector and NHS organisations. Before commencing procurement make sure to research any available opportunities and speak to suppliers to confirm any packages they may have available.

Routes to market

Direct from supplier

Currently, purchasing direct from the suppliers required a debit or credit card. There was no option for payment by invoice available for UK customers.

Starlink can be purchased from Starlink.com. If buying the service direct from Starlink, be aware that you will be responsible for installation and setup of the service at your site(s).

Some NHS organisations may be able to pay using debit or credit cards held by the organisation. For others, such as commissioning support units (CSUs) or central bodies including NHS England, this option is not available. An alternative route to market, such as using a framework, will be required to purchase Starlink from a reseller.

Reseller (managed service)

Starlink authorised resellers can sell Starlink products and services in locations where Starlink is licensed and certified. They can resell these to end-users with other value-added services.

When purchasing from an authorised reseller, the end-user manages their account, service, and support through the reseller exclusively and not through Starlink.

Whilst resellers may have additional costs compared to buying direct from the supplier, they can offer value-added services not otherwise available. These may include:

installation and set-up support, including physical or desk-based site surveys to determine suitability of the site, best placement of antennae and other physical factors that may impact the service
maintenance and fix support
service wraps, including service guarantees and service-level agreements (SLAs)

For more information on resellers see Who is a Starlink authorized commercial reseller? - Starlink Help Center.

Procurement via framework

You may pay more than the publicly advertised cost of a Starlink package if you procure via a framework.

Managed service providers may offer to purchase the equipment and data plans from a reseller and provide a service wrap and installation support. These services can be procured separately to the connectivity.

The final route to market is via a framework agreement. In general, these will offer a number of products/services and will usually have predefined terms and conditions which those suppliers on the framework will have accepted as part of signing up to the framework.

A framework will have a predefined scope which may be covered by multiple lots which further categorise the products/services on offer. Frameworks usually offer two ways to purchase – by running a mini-competition or by allowing a direct award against a supplier's defined service offer.

Frameworks covering satellite connectivity for NHS organisations include:

Crown Commercial Services Network Services 3 (RM6116) which includes satellite services in Lot 1a
NHS SBS Digital Workplace Solutions

Other satellite connectivity considerations

Resilience

Resilient network connectivity is essential in minimising disruption to critical services and supporting the continuous connectivity needed to keep sites running. Fixed NHS sites would traditionally have had a second fixed line as a resilient or back up option, providing connectivity in event of failure or disruption to their primary line.

Sharing one or more resilient satellite connectivity options across multiple sites, rather than having a fixed line providing resilience at each site can be a cost-effective solution.

Introducing satellite connectivity also applies greater diversity to resilience, with the satellite connectivity being wholly diverse from any fixed line to the site. Two fixed lines from the same site could be subject to outages from the same source, for example if they terminate at the same telecoms exchange or are both provided by the same supplier.

Cyber security considerations

NHS organisations should have a robust local security policy in place for all communications, networking, and IT equipment that adheres to relevant NHS and government national policies and guidelines.

Satellite connectivity is considered a public network (as is 5G connectivity) in cyber security terms. As such, it will have different information security (infosec) requirements to your fixed line connectivity. You will need to be aware of this if using satellite as an element of your connectivity mix alongside fixed line.

This section provides a non-exhaustive overview of several NHS England and UK government policies and guidelines that we consider relevant to organisations when deploying connectivity infrastructure.

NHS England:

Government:

National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS):

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite future capabilities

Satellite connectivity is expected to become more common over the next 3 to 5 years. More satellites will launch, competition will increase with a broader range of suppliers having constellations in orbit that can meet NHS use cases, and equipment and data costs will fall.

In addition, existing satellite providers are launching new capabilities into their constellations. This means that unmodified smartphones will be able to use LEO satellite constellations (such as Starlink) for outdoor coverage to enable mobile texts, voice and data in areas where traditional terrestrial coverage isn’t available.

In the mobile phone market both leading manufactures, Samsung and Apple, offer mid to high end phones which already have some satellite connectivity capability, which is often referred to as direct to device (D2D). It is expected that once commercial agreements have been made between mobile network operators and satellite providers this capability may have application in some NHS use cases.

The Networks and Connectivity Centre of Excellence have produced guidance on available on FutureNHS.

This is an emerging technology. As local mobile network operators own the spectrum required for this capability and the billing of their customer base, and Ofcom regulate the sector, regulation, commercial agreements and user experience all need to be designed and launched commercially.

When agreements are reached and these services become commercially available, satellite connectivity via mobile has the potential to have a transformative effect on meeting the connectivity demands of NHS workers on the move. It will provide a solution to connectivity demands in rural and remote areas where 4G and 5G connectivity does not reach.

Examples

Ofcom have opened a consultation on Direct-to-Device (DtD) satellite services.

Virgin Media/O2 and Vodafone have announced service offerings for direct to satellite. Other providers are expected to offer similar services in the near future.

Virgin Media O2 becomes the first UK mobile network to switch on direct-to-device satellite connectivity with the launch of O2 Satellite

Direct-to-smartphone satellite service: everything you need to know - Vodafone

Starlink have announced their own Direct-to-Cell (DtC service) and those networks with whom they are working to deliver roaming agreements.