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VoIP Week in Review from TMCnet: The New Money-making AT&T
TMCnet VoIP Minute Watch Columnist
Judging by the amount of IP VPN and other voice and data contracts the newly formed SBC/AT&T conglomerate has announced since the month of January began, it seems like the telecom giant is doing pretty darn good, at least financially!
Providing IP VPN equipment and services for the enterprise could be a great move for AT&T, and one with a promising future. Indeed, analysts believe that network-based Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) equipment revenue is poised to grow from $347 million in 2004 to a whopping $658 million in 2009 worldwide. These findings were recently published in a study titled The Equipment Options for Implementing Network-Based IP VPN Services, conducted by research firm In-Stat.
Just this week the company announced it inked a whopping seven contracts, bringing up the total to nine so far for the year. Let's look at the contracts the company scored this week…
On Monday, the VoIP Minute Watch published an article on the telecom giant recently announcing that it was awarded a $2.4 million networking service contract from Jarden Corp. Jarden, a provider of niche consumer products, awarded AT&T a three-year agreement for data, voice hosting and Internet access services, as the company experiences a group networking expansion. Under the terms of the agreement AT&T will provide an Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) integrating more than Jarden's 30 facilities and providing the company’s employees secure online access to proprietary business applications.
In addition to networking services, AT&T will provide Internet connectivity both in the United States and abroad, hosting services for Jarden corporate applications, conference services and long-distance voice service.
Also on Monday, the Minute published another article about AT&T recently scoring a new contract with Stockton, California-based Premier Community Credit Union, a financial services provider. The deal calls for AT&T to provide Network-based Virtual Private Network (NVPN) services, utilizing Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology, and support services to provide increased bandwidth and full maintenance support to Premier Community Credit Union's six branch locations.
The new services would improve network continuity and support advanced applications, resulting in overall improvements to customer service. Additionally, these services will provide amplified security and network redundancy, affording Premier Community Credit Union a secure environment for data transactions across its network.
"We wanted to uphold our reputation as the best rehabilitation hospital in America by working with a communications provider that could help us expand our capabilities and improve our productivity," noted Tim McKula, CIO, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "We're confident that AT&T companies will provide us with high-quality equipment and services to help us effectively care for our patients."
AT&T announced Wednesday that it implemented a Global Managed Internet Service system for BrokerOne, one of Australia's largest futures brokers. The new three-year agreement calls for AT&T to provide BrokerOne with a managed, dedicated direct Internet connection between its Sydney office and one of its major trading partners in Chicago. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed at press time. BrokerOne uses its U.S. Internet connection to provide Australian future traders access to offshore futures markets through online software applications.
And finally, AT&T ended the week announcing on Friday that the International Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) tapped the telecom giant to launch one of the first large-scale videoconferencing systems in Taiwan's banking sector. ICBC chose AT&T Inc. to design and implement the videoconferencing network, which links more than 75 branches within Taiwan, and will eventually include additional sites in Japan, Europe and the United States. Terms of the contract were not disclosed at press time.
"With increasing competition in the banking sector we are constantly looking for new ways to strengthen our service to customers, as well as improve our own efficiency and cost-effectiveness," said Chiu Wei Liu, assistant vice president of head office-secretarial department at ICBC. "We are delighted with the turnkey solution provided by AT&T and our customers are already enjoying the benefits of our improved communications infrastructure."
There you have it folks, another exciting week in the VoIP industry! Stay tuned and read the VoIP Minute Watch for the latest news…
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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne Torres' columnist page.
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