Meo replaces NOS in managing SNS’s information systems

Meo, held by Altice Portugal, won the public tender for the network maintenance of the Portuguese National Health Service (SNS). The contract has a duration of two years and would allow MEO to replace its major competitor NOS in carrying out those functions.

“PT Enterprises, Altice Portugal’s brand for corporate solutions, won over the right to manage the Health Network System (RIS) 2020 through public tender”, the company led by Alexandre Fonseca announced. According to Altice, RIS is “a fundamental component of the Health Network ecosystem” and operates “24/7, 365 days a year”.

Among the services MEO will provide to the NHS, there is the maintenance of “a private and exclusive network” that connects all entities related to the SNS, “especially those related to general practice units”. Altice Portugal assures it is taking into consideration the importance of cybersecurity in this sector as it is implementing all the “relevant improvements ” regarding the current network. Meo will also have to provide “internet Wi-Fi access to all users of any SNS facility, giving free and quality access to all the digital services provided by these entities”.

Another important feature of this contract is that Meo will be responsible for providing “a personalised set of mobile and landline communication for both general practice units and hospitals”. “The new RIS 2020 reveals a more resilient infrastructure with internal capacities that allow more efficient monitoring for better traffic control and analysis and, therefore, better network security”, the company concludes.

Altice Portugal is, thus, ready to be in charge of another national critical infrastructure, one week after the agreement for the retaking of the company that owns SIRESP (the emergency network services) by the Portuguese State as a consequence of 2017’s dramatic fires that provoked the death of more than a hundred people. Both Altice and Motorola, however, will keep being responsible for its maintenance.