Eaga, the green support services firm, has been named preferred supplier for the BBC’s £600 million Digitial Switchover Help Scheme, beating competition from the likes of Capita.
The programme will help up to seven million people to convert one of their televisions to digital, as the broadcaster changes from analogue to digital transmission between now and 2013.
As part of the contract the company will contact each eligible person directly to help them with the switch. The firm will provide the scheme contact centre, equipment and home installation.
Eaga, which typically helps venerable people improve the energy efficiency of their homes, beat competition from the likes of Capita and Vertex, the back office business of United Utilities, to secure the deal.
Analysts suggested the company was selected due to its familiarity with delivering projects in the homes of vulnerable people.
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“This scheme goes to the heart of our work as a force for social inclusion and the skills and expertise we have developed as a market leader in delivering to vulnerable customers on a national scale,” John Clough, the Eaga chief executive, said. “The digital switchover process is a hugely important development for broadcasting in this country.”
The total projected cost of the help scheme is £603 million, of which about £500 million is allocated to the estimated service supplier costs.
The news comes as a blow to outsourcing giant Capita, that had run a smaller one off version of the project in Cumbria, the first region to switch fully from analogue to digital television.
Analysts at KBC Peel Hunt said the deal showed the firm was diversifying its business.
“In our view, Eaga has won a major contract in a new area against strong competition. This could be the sign that Eaga has successfully broadened into social inclusion work outside merely energy poverty works,” they said.
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In afternoon trading shares in Eaga were up 4.65 per cent, or 7.75p, to 174.25p. Capita traded down 2.19 per cent, or 14p, at 624p.