Thales and Proximus have won a contract to modernize NATO's IT infrastructure.

The two companies revealed they were selected by NATO's Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) earlier this week, which will see them operating and managing some key infrastructure elements for the NCIA's network across five locations.

The infrastructure will be cloud-based, enabling NCIA personnel to access IT services from multiple sites.

Thales will handle the cloud infrastructure for NATO, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and scalable cloud services for secure storage and high-performance computing, while Proximus will upgrade the WiFi networks at The Hague and Braine L’Alleud, as well as enabling a high speed connection to their Cloud for 5,000 users at NCIA sites.

The financial terms of the contracts have not been shared, though a Reuters report described it as a "major NATO contract" and Belgian newspaper L'Echo has speculated it could be worth more than €100m ($113.9m).

“Together with Proximus, Thales reaffirms its commitment to strengthening NATO’s digital resilience, ensuring secure, high-performance, and future-proof IT infrastructure to support the Alliance’s evolving needs. By outsourcing commodity services to trusted industry leaders, NCIA is taking a forward-looking approach that ensures a fully managed, secure, and scalable solution," said Alex Bottero, VP of network and Infrastructure Systems at Thales.

Anne-Sophie Lotgering, enterprise market lead at Proximus, added: "This strategic project reflects our commitment to providing cutting-edge connectivity, mobility, and security solutions. We are proud that Proximus has been chosen for this large-scale project, which will enable NATO to strengthen its digital capabilities with a secure and scalable infrastructure. Thanks to our collaboration with Thales, we are confident that we will be able to meet NCIA's needs and support its essential missions."

NATO operates five campuses and 30 direct support locations throughout Europe and North America. The primary locations are in Brussels, Braine-l'Alleud, Mons, Oeiras, and The Hague, while the direct support locations include CIS Support Units (CSUs), logistics centers, and satellite ground stations which enable NATO networks, service operations, exercises, and IT infrastructure. The organization does not reveal specific details about its data center footprint.

Proximus Group is a connectivity, IT, and digital services provider based in Brussels, with operations also in the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The company can trace its roots back to the original Belgian telegraph services set up by the government in the late 1800s. It was officially founded as RTT in 1930, before becoming Belgacom in 1992 and rebranding to Proximus in 2014. The Belgian government remains the largest shareholder in the company.

Earlier this month, Proximus was reportedly looking to sell around 500 buildings as part of its copper network shutdown.

Thales provides a wide range of digital services to customers in sectors including defense and is part-owned by French taxpayers. In 2024, the company was looking to acquire some of Atos' assets.