January 19, 2004 - P&O Nedlloyd has extended a nine-year partnership with Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) in a bid to reduce its communication infrastructure costs by up to 11 percent per year.
Under the terms of the $35 million agreement, Equant will continue to provide IP VPN services, linking approximately 150 sites worldwide.
The container shipping firm employs more than 12,000 people around the world. With such a global reach, P&O Nedlloyd depends on its IP VPN infrastructure to run essential services and applications such as its customized Freight Management Systems, PeopleSoft and messaging systems. Equant will provide a full range of services including an IP VPN with managed access, managed firewalls and disaster recovery facilities.
P&O Nedlloyd chose to work with Equant because of the following key reasons:
- The successful nine year relationship between both parties.
- A comprehensive Service Level Agreement which ensures quality and reliability of the network.
- Equant’s expertise in global networking which can be scaled to meet the individual needs of any office.
“A solid communications base is essential to any business strategy,” said Mark Bulle, Infrastructure and Messaging manager at P&O Nedlloyd. “But, it is also one of our largest IT cost bases. As a business, we have to make every effort to ensure the best customer service at the lowest cost possible. We believe Equant to be the best placed global company to be able to provide all the services we need at the levels we require and appropriate cost.”
“Equant is dedicated to helping its customers achieve cost savings and work more effectively,” said Lloyd Salvage, general manager, U.K. and Ireland at Equant. “This deal encompasses many different skill-sets for Equant both within networking and managed services and our expertise in these areas means we are able to set service level agreements to ensure high quality service.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
About P&O Nedlloyd
P&O Nedlloyd is one of the world's leading providers of point-to-point container shipping services. To support this core business, it also offers a range of value-added logistics services, from relatively simple freight management to sophisticated supply chain management. P&O Nedlloyd is the fourth largest provider of container shipping services in the world by fleet capacity, and operates a modern fleet of 154 container ships. P&O Nedlloyd’s ships call at 229 ports in 94 countries with the support of more than 400 offices in 156 countries.
About Equant
Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) is a recognized industry leader in global communications services for multinational businesses. Equant combines its network expertise – including unmatched seamless network reach in 220 countries and territories and local support in approximately 165 countries – with its expanded services capabilities to provide global, integrated and customized communication services to enable its customers key business processes. Equant serves thousands of the world’s top companies, with the industry’s most extensive portfolio of communications services and network solutions, including the market-leading IP VPN used by nearly 1,300 global businesses. Equant, a subsidiary of France Telecom, consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.