Mission Boost: How BT Prioritises Critical Mobile Traffic

When a power outage spreads across a region or emergency teams are coordinating a response on the ground, reliable mobile connectivity is as important as the physical infrastructure itself.

In those moments, network congestion can slow access to vital information and delay critical decisions.

That challenge is at the core of BT Business’ latest launch.

The company has unveiled Mission Boost, a new service designed to give organisations delivering essential services prioritised access across EE’s national 4G and 5G networks. 

The launch marks the first capability within BT’s broader MissionNet portfolio, a suite of services aimed at organisations operating in mission-critical environments where communications resilience is a core operational requirement.

BT already supports a wide range of essential services across the UK, providing connectivity that underpins sectors from utilities and transport to critical national infrastructure.

As mobile data usage continues to grow and field-based workforces become dependent on connected devices, ensuring communications remain available during periods of network strain has become a growing priority.

Mission Boost addresses that challenge by enabling traffic prioritisation across EE’s commercial mobile network.

The capability is intended to help organisations maintain connectivity and situational awareness during incidents or periods of unusually high demand, so critical communications can continue even when networks are congested.

Building a mission-critical portfolio

The service forms part of BT’s wider strategy to expand its proposition for organisations with high resilience requirements.

Faisal Mahomed, Managing Director, Critical Communications at BT, notes: “Organisations delivering critical services are operating in increasingly complex environments, where reliable communications are a must.

“Mission Boost is designed to provide the connectivity and capabilities that organisations need to operate with confidence – and marks an important first step as BT looks to roll out a range of enhanced new mission-critical services.”

Alongside connectivity services, MissionNet will combine cloud infrastructure, security capabilities and partner technologies intended to support operational environments where uptime and resilience are paramount.

BT says the portfolio has been developed for sectors including emergency response, transport and critical national infrastructure operators, where communications failures can have significant operational consequences.

UK Power Networks among first adopters

One of the first organisations to deploy the prioritisation capability is UK Power Networks, which operates electricity infrastructure across London, the South East and the East of England.

Kieran Coughlan, Director of Asset Management at UK Power Networks, says: “We are delighted to enter into a partnership with BT to deliver prioritised mobile communications.

“Reliable communications are an essential component of a healthy electricity network. This partnership will deliver even greater resilience for our customers.

“EE’s multi-layer resilience will enable us to stay in contact with key field staff even when the communications network is congested, and access tools that helps us understand the health of the cellular network to support power restoration in event of an outage.”

For UK Power Networks, the service is expected to support both operational resilience and longer-term strategic objectives.

Kieran adds: “These added capabilities are fundamental to how we keep power flowing safely and reliably.

“As an early adopter it will enable us to be better prepared to serve the country, support the transition to net zero and meet the evolving regulatory demands of the UK energy sector.”

More capabilities to come

Mission Boost is the first component of the MissionNet platform, but BT plans to expand the portfolio over time.

Future capabilities are expected to include services ranging from contact management tools to push-to-talk applications, delivered through an ecosystem of technology partners.

The launch reflects BT’s wider investment programme across UK telco infrastructure.

The company is investing £40bn (US$53bn) between 2020 and 2030 to upgrade fixed and mobile networks, supporting growing connectivity requirements across public and private sector organisations.

BT's latest announcement highlights how telco services for mission-critical sectors are designed to ensure the right communications get through where they matter most.