Orange UK has been awarded a two-year contract by Derby City Council, whereby it will act as the council's sole mobile communications supplier, effective 1 February. The deal will see Orange primarily supply the council with 1,500 voice connections and Orange Wirefree Extension, which allows reduced-rate calls between the Council's landline and mobile phones through a virtual private network. Orange will also provide the Council with dongles and BlackBerry devices for its employees who need to stay connected when out of the office, plus telemetry SIMs that will manage its road signage and car parking meters. In addition, Orange has provided 500 3G dongles under the Computers for Pupils and HATUG (Home Access Targeted User Group) schemes, which allow underprivileged children or those who are not in the school system to have access to computer equipment for their studies. This is run via a Managed VPN, which supplies a dedicated, scalable connection to the Council's network. The Council appointed Orange following a reverse eAuction in which other mobile operators were involved.