K Line renews IP VPN contract with Equant
Announcement posted by Equant 22 Oct 2003
Three-year, $2.6 million agreement provides MPLS-based network in nine countries across three continents
Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU), a recognised industry leader in global IP and data services for multinational businesses, has won a $2.6 million contract renewal with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line).
Headquartered in Tokyo and in operation since 1919, K Line is a leading worldwide integrated transportation enterprise.
Based on the benefits it has realised since 2001 with Equants MPLS-based IP VPN, K Line decided to extend the contract covering company sites in nine countries on three continents for an additional three years. K Line will add Equant IP Dial to maximise the reach of travelling and remote employees, who will be able to dial into the IP VPN with a local call from almost anywhere in the world. They will benefit from the same functionality as a direct network link and from simple global connections with standard sign-on procedures from every dial-in site.
Equant IP VPN is especially important to the effective running of K Lines new business application, known as Global Applications (GApp). GApp is crucial to K Lines day-to-day business processes, including booking, documentation and container inventory control applications. It also runs processes to manage vessel scheduling and itineraries, which are supporting these major applications
Equant IP VPN will continue to provide us with greater operational efficiency, scalability and faster, more flexible growth, said Satoru Kuboshima, managing director of Information Technology and Global Logistics Business, K Line. On top of that, the MPLS-based IP VPN also gives us greater cost efficiency and allows us to focus on our business-critical applications and systems at the core of our business. We wanted a real partner which could offer us an advanced solution for our IT infrastructure, and Equant fit the bill perfectly.
K Line selected Equant IP VPN again to gain the following benefits:
An in-depth understanding of K Lines business strategy resulting from an existing relationship of more than two years.
Equants expertise with MPLS-based IP VPNs from more than four years of experience with the industrys first and most widely available solution.
Any-to-any connectivity that allows new offices to be added quickly with plug and play capabilities.
Robust and reliable networking to deliver mission-critical applications.
Flexibility to add intranet/extranet partners to the network.
Dedicated customer service through a designated customer service manager, a local support team, and Global Customer Service Centres in every region of the world.
David Nishball, Equants senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific Australasia, said: Our long-standing relationship with K Line has provided us with a deep understanding of its critical business needs, both in Japan and around the world. The renewal of our existing contract is a strong testament to the work of Equants consultants and project managers, who have helped K Line meet its management objectives.
About Equant
Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) is a recognised industry leader in global data and IP network and integration services for multinational businesses. The Equant network has unmatched seamless reach, connecting key business centres in 220 countries and territories, with local support in more than 165 countries. Building on more than 50 years of experience in data communications, Equant serves thousands of the worlds top companies with the industrys most extensive portfolio of managed network services, including the market-leading IP VPN used by 950 global businesses as of Oct. 1, 2003. Equant, a subsidiary of France Telecom, was named Best Global Carrier 2003 and Best Managed Service 2003 at the World Communication Awards and consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.
About Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line)
Kawasaki Kisen is one of the largest shipping companies in Japan and refereed as K-Line as a worldwide integrated transportation company. Since being established in 1919, K-Line has met the needs of their customers by seeking continuous improvement of their service quality. Under KV-PLAN, their management plan, K-Line delivers competitive services in both aspects of cost and service by bringing new liner shipbuilding into their container division. They also deploy aggressive sales activities in divisions of bulk carriers, car carriers and energy carriers and reinforce their sales at overseas sites in order to meet worldwide transportation restructuring, while planning to extend their operations.
In advancement of information/communication technologies in marine transportation industry, K-Line has been expanding customer-focused systems and advanced communications infrastructure.
###
This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Equant that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Equant with the SEC, specifically the most recent filing on SEC Form 20-F, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including, among other things, risks relating to Equants history of operating losses, the unpredictability of growth in Equants markets, changing technology, uncertain and changing regulatory restrictions, Equants international operations, dependence on suppliers, network security issues, competition, and volatility of Equants stock price and risks relating to the combination with Global One. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Equant on the date hereof, and Equant assumes no obligation to update such statements.
Headquartered in Tokyo and in operation since 1919, K Line is a leading worldwide integrated transportation enterprise.
Based on the benefits it has realised since 2001 with Equants MPLS-based IP VPN, K Line decided to extend the contract covering company sites in nine countries on three continents for an additional three years. K Line will add Equant IP Dial to maximise the reach of travelling and remote employees, who will be able to dial into the IP VPN with a local call from almost anywhere in the world. They will benefit from the same functionality as a direct network link and from simple global connections with standard sign-on procedures from every dial-in site.
Equant IP VPN is especially important to the effective running of K Lines new business application, known as Global Applications (GApp). GApp is crucial to K Lines day-to-day business processes, including booking, documentation and container inventory control applications. It also runs processes to manage vessel scheduling and itineraries, which are supporting these major applications
Equant IP VPN will continue to provide us with greater operational efficiency, scalability and faster, more flexible growth, said Satoru Kuboshima, managing director of Information Technology and Global Logistics Business, K Line. On top of that, the MPLS-based IP VPN also gives us greater cost efficiency and allows us to focus on our business-critical applications and systems at the core of our business. We wanted a real partner which could offer us an advanced solution for our IT infrastructure, and Equant fit the bill perfectly.
K Line selected Equant IP VPN again to gain the following benefits:
An in-depth understanding of K Lines business strategy resulting from an existing relationship of more than two years.
Equants expertise with MPLS-based IP VPNs from more than four years of experience with the industrys first and most widely available solution.
Any-to-any connectivity that allows new offices to be added quickly with plug and play capabilities.
Robust and reliable networking to deliver mission-critical applications.
Flexibility to add intranet/extranet partners to the network.
Dedicated customer service through a designated customer service manager, a local support team, and Global Customer Service Centres in every region of the world.
David Nishball, Equants senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific Australasia, said: Our long-standing relationship with K Line has provided us with a deep understanding of its critical business needs, both in Japan and around the world. The renewal of our existing contract is a strong testament to the work of Equants consultants and project managers, who have helped K Line meet its management objectives.
About Equant
Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) is a recognised industry leader in global data and IP network and integration services for multinational businesses. The Equant network has unmatched seamless reach, connecting key business centres in 220 countries and territories, with local support in more than 165 countries. Building on more than 50 years of experience in data communications, Equant serves thousands of the worlds top companies with the industrys most extensive portfolio of managed network services, including the market-leading IP VPN used by 950 global businesses as of Oct. 1, 2003. Equant, a subsidiary of France Telecom, was named Best Global Carrier 2003 and Best Managed Service 2003 at the World Communication Awards and consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.
About Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line)
Kawasaki Kisen is one of the largest shipping companies in Japan and refereed as K-Line as a worldwide integrated transportation company. Since being established in 1919, K-Line has met the needs of their customers by seeking continuous improvement of their service quality. Under KV-PLAN, their management plan, K-Line delivers competitive services in both aspects of cost and service by bringing new liner shipbuilding into their container division. They also deploy aggressive sales activities in divisions of bulk carriers, car carriers and energy carriers and reinforce their sales at overseas sites in order to meet worldwide transportation restructuring, while planning to extend their operations.
In advancement of information/communication technologies in marine transportation industry, K-Line has been expanding customer-focused systems and advanced communications infrastructure.
###
This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Equant that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Equant with the SEC, specifically the most recent filing on SEC Form 20-F, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including, among other things, risks relating to Equants history of operating losses, the unpredictability of growth in Equants markets, changing technology, uncertain and changing regulatory restrictions, Equants international operations, dependence on suppliers, network security issues, competition, and volatility of Equants stock price and risks relating to the combination with Global One. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Equant on the date hereof, and Equant assumes no obligation to update such statements.