Thales UK and QinetiQ have signed an agreement to co-develop products, services and solutions based on the Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol (SCIP). Targeted at providing ‘best of breed’ telephony solutions to the growing UK and export markets for secure telephony, both companies will use their sovereign UK High Grade and related Information Assurance capabilities to create a UK-based centre of excellence. Initial offerings will include fixed telephony solutions based on both PSTN and VoIP and interoperable mobile solutions.

SCIP has been selected by the UK Government as its future secure telephony standard and is currently under consideration by at least 29 nations worldwide for defence and public safety environments. The standard is designed for both wide and narrowband voice and data security providing media independent solutions at a time of rapid change in the telephone communications industry. Key components to the SCIP standard include: key management, voice compression, encryption and a signalling plan.

James Kilazoglou, Managing Director of Thales’ e-Security activities : ‘We are pleased to be undertaking this enterprise at a time when interoperability and communication between states and across civilian and military forces has become essential to the safety of nations. This agreement places the Thales UK / QinetiQ team in a unique position within the UK to exploit this important security technology over the next five years. This builds on Thales’ long history of secure communications provision to government and military customers across the world including UK and US markets.”

QinetiQ has a long heritage in developing SCIP and has undertaken significant R&D initiatives into secure, interoperable implementation of the standards,” added Andrew Sleigh, MD of QinetiQ’s defence business.  “This agreement with Thales is an important step towards providing the UK Government with technology that can support communication needs well into the 21st Century.”

About Thales UK
Thales UK is a major electronics and systems group serving defence, aerospace, security and services markets. Thales employs 10,000 staff in the UK and 60,000 people in 50 countries. In 2005, Thales UK ’s revenues were over £1 billion.
www.thalesgroup.co.uk

About QinetiQ
QinetiQ is Europe ’s largest science and technology solutions company with unrivalled expertise in the defence and security sectors. Founded In July 2001 from the majority of DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency) the laboratories of the UK MOD, QinetiQ employs nearly 10,000 people, including many of the UK ’s leading scientists and internationally acclaimed experts. Today QinetiQ operates in markets as diverse as defence, security, automotive, information technology, aerospace, health, rail, telecommunications, electronics, space, marine, energy and oil & gas.

Press Contacts
Claire Topping
Thales
Tel: 01844 204156
claire.topping@thales-esecurity.com

Doug Millard
QinetiQ Press Office
Tel: 01252 394611
dmillard@QinetiQ.com