BT Wins $37M Drug Firm DealBT Wins $37M Drug Firm Deal

BT signs $36.8M contract to deliver and manage AstraZeneca's global IP network, increasing efficiency and reducing costs

February 9, 2004

2 Min Read

LONDON -- BT (NYSE: BTY - News), a leading provider of information and communications technology (ICT) solutions, today announced the signature of a EUR 29 million ($36.8 M) contract with AstraZeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, to provide and manage its new global IP network. This project is designed to increase the efficiency of AstraZeneca's infrastructure while also reducing costs on a global scale. Additionally, the flexibility of IP networking will give the company the ability to introduce new applications across the enterprise.

The IP network will connect 82 sites in all parts of the world and will be based on BT's multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) platform. Provided on a managed basis, BT will retain responsibility for operation, supervision, maintenance and helpdesk functions. The new service will enable AstraZeneca to plan the integration of additional IP-based applications over a single Multi-Services network.

Johan Almstrom, Global Service Manager -- Data & Telecom at AstraZeneca, said: "Our company is renowned for the way it combines global capabilities with high quality relationships in local markets, and our focus on responding quickly and effectively to our customers' changing needs. This means we need robust network services, supporting our current and future applications as well as our intensive collaboration with customers and suppliers. We wanted to adapt our network services in order to better respond to the new realities of the global economy. We have had a long standing relationship with BT, and its understanding of our business needs combined with its excellence in the field of integrated ICT solutions made it our partner of choice for this project."

Jean-Yves Charlier, chief of operations, BT Global Services, said: "This is one of the largest corporate IP-based backbone networks in the pharmaceutical industry. We are absolutely delighted AstraZeneca has entrusted the delivery and management of this project to BT. Right from the outset we have strived to understand the business issues faced by AstraZeneca and have proposed an evolution of its network services that ensures the best usage of today's available technology to further reinforce its current and future interaction with the market."

BT's MPLS network serves corporate and government organizations across the world. BT was awarded the 2003 Frost & Sullivan Market Engineering Award for Competitive Strategy, recognizing the company's constant strategy innovation and premium IP VPN solutions. The company has also been ranked as a leader in industry analyst Gartner's "Magic Quadrant for Global Network Service Providers, 2H03."

BT Group plc

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