Global Crossing Signs Deal with FirstGroup in UK

By Rajani Baburajan, TMCnet Contributor

Internet Protocol (IP) solutions provider, Global Crossing, announced that it has been selected by FirstGroup, the U.K.'s largest transport operator, to supply a secure Wide Area Network (WAN) to its U.K. operations.

The four-year contract, worth approximately $13 million, will see Global Crossing (News - Alert) implement a fully managed data network over more than 700 sites, according to company officials. Under the terms of the partnership Global Crossing offers its Managed Security Service and implementation project management services.

According to Glenn Bladon, group head of IT Services at FirstGroup, Global Crossing’s experience in the transport industry running tested and proven networks will have a positive impact on their business and enable them to deliver service to customers, manager the network, and increase reliability and safety.

FirstGroup already leverages Global Crossing’s managed voice solution as part of a dedicated industry-wide service catering to nearly 50,000 users.  The new network will enable FirstGroup to capitalize on the potential benefits of moving to a converged IP platform in the future, according to company officials.

“The transport sector is vitally important for us and a key part of our heritage and network capability,” said Ted Higase, managing director of EMEA at Global Crossing, in a statement. This is the second multimillion dollar transport contract the company has won over the last eight months.

In April, Global Crossing announced Continental Automotive Guadalajara signed a three-year contract with Global Crossing for its Managed Dedicated Internet Access services and VoIP Outbound service. 

Prior to that TMCnet reported Global Crossing announced a three-year agreement with AeroMexico to provide a suite of data and voice services to support over 30 of its locations worldwide.

According to Higase, the new contract with FirstGroup further demonstrates the success of Global Crossing's Transport Sector Network strategy to drive efficiencies and savings, similar to Government's transformational Public Sector Network project.

(source: http://voip-phone-service.tmcnet.com/topics/voip-phone-service/articles/109714-global-crossing-signs-deal-with-firstgroup-uk.htm)