Unisys Awarded Wide Area Network Contract By Kent County Council For T

    Business Editors/High-Tech Editors

    MAIDSTONE, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2005--Unisys (NYSE:UIS), the global IT services and technology company, has won the contract to provide schools in the Kent Local Education Authority (LEA) with a new Wide Area Network (WAN) for the next three years. The contract for managed services plus associated hardware and software, was signed in the fourth quarter of 2004 and has a potential value to Unisys of GBP 3.7 million ($US 7.1 million).
    The network is designed to reach all 615 schools throughout Kent LEA, which is the largest authority by number of schools in the UK. Unisys will provide the network in collaboration with BT, Cisco and Microsoft under a GBP 15.7 million ($US 30.2 million) Kent County Council program.
    The network, called Kent Community Network, will be managed by Unisys and will enhance schools' ability to access digital learning aids including video, flash animation and audio materials. The new network, which is part of the National Education Network, will have 50 times the bandwidth capacity of the previous network and will bring over 240,000 pupils online across the county for collaboration, learning and management.
    As a result, secondary schools in Kent will achieve the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) targets a year early and primary schools will be provided with up to five times the network capacity recommended by the DfES.
    Unisys will work with BT, Cisco and Microsoft to provide improved infrastructure and security, making the network robust and able to cope with the demands of the LEA. An innovative aspect of the Kent network is the collaboration with the UK Universities' JANET network for Internet transit.
    Grahame Ward, assistant director for Kent LEA explained, "Kent's large size and geography meant that there were challenges associated with the project, such as the lack of telecommunications infrastructure in coastal and rural areas. This could have hampered the ability to connect a very dispersed community with a high powered network. We chose Unisys because it has unrivalled experience in installing and managing extensive networks in local authorities and large enterprises. We were impressed by the management commitment and the assured technical proposal the Unisys team delivered. It also gave us the best value solution."
    Grahame Ward continued, "On average for each computer we have five to six pupils, all wanting to use the Internet, which means our network has to be able to take a phenomenal load when pupils access content-rich material. This new network is designed to handle this and give pupils instantaneous access to online learning materials including the BBC Digital Curriculum."
    In the future, Kent may look to expand the network's focus by providing connectivity for the wider community.
    Tom McInnes, vice president and general manager, Global Infrastructure Services, Unisys UK, stated, "Unisys work with Kent has been both challenging and rewarding. We have been able to surpass the criteria laid down by the DfES to enable school children to access learning materials over the Internet quickly, easily and safely. We have built in the capacity to scale the network in the future and look forward to developing the network with Kent County Council."

    About the Network

    The network will support more than 500 primary and special schools with an average of 260 users in each location, and more than 100 secondary schools with an average of 1,000 pupils in each school.
    The design is based on a Cisco network and 40 hubs will be hosted in external BT exchanges. Security will be managed from a Unisys site in Schiphol, The Netherlands. The new design is based on optical fibre for high reliability, Ethernet switches for speed and will increase core bandwidth from 16 Mbps to 1000 Mbps.
    Helpdesk support will be provided by Kent County Council, with high-level technical support provided by Unisys via helpdesk personnel.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Any statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements rely on assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. In particular, statements in this release regarding the anticipated value of the contract are based upon the agreement remaining in effect throughout the defined term. As the agreement is terminable before the end of its term, the estimated value of the engagement is not guaranteed. Additional discussion of factors that could affect Unisys future results is contained in periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    About Unisys

    Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. Our people combine expertise in consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, infrastructure, server technology with precision thinking and relentless execution to help clients, in more than 100 countries, quickly and efficiently achieve competitive advantage. For more information, visit www.unisys.com

    About Kent County Council

    www.kent.gov.uk

    RELEASE NO.: 0330/8526

    http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/news_a_events/03308526.htm

    Unisys is a registered trademark of Unisys Corporation. All other brands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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CONTACT: Unisys (UK) Jill Pearcy, 447808392475 jill.pearcy@gb.unisys.com or Cohn & Wolfe Catherine Moran, 0207 331 5473 Catherine_moran@uk.cohnwolfe.com or Nadia Boodram, 0207 331 5464 nadia_boodram@uk.cohnwolfe.com or Unisys (U.S.) Brian Daly, 215-986-2214 brian.daly@unisys.com or Weber Shandwick Christian Harper, 212-445-8135 charper@webershandwick.com

KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA UNITED KINGDOM INTERNATIONAL EUROPE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE GOVERNMENT SOFTWARE NETWORKING PRODUCT MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: Unisys

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