RCL Picks Equant for VPN

WASHINGTON and SINGAPORE -- Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU), a recognized industry leader in global IP and data services for multinational businesses, has expanded its relationship with RCL, the shipping and transportation group, through a two-year, US$1 million-plus IP VPN contract, including Private Dial Services.

RCL, one of Asia's top feeder and liner operators, owns and operates 36 container vessels serving more than 70 destinations in Asia, Australasia and the Middle East. The company, which is continually looking to expand its feeder services and container liner business in Asia, upgraded its existing frame relay network to Equant MPLS-based IP VPN to exploit the latest technologies for its growing business requirements.

RCL has been an Equant customer since 1997 and chose to renew its contract because of Equant's unique capabilities in meeting the communications needs of the shipping industry. Equant today serves 18 of the top 20 global container carriers and more than 100 shipping-related companies with thousands of sites in more than 176 countries.

"The secure and timely delivery of cargo documents, online information about cargo vessel positions and the ability to provide accurate status updates to customers and ports-of-call are critical to our business success," said Margaret Lau, senior vice president for Group IT and HR, RCL Feeder Pte Ltd. "In our years of working with Equant, they have consistently delivered on their promise of service and reliability, and have been a highly flexible partner. Equant's strong consultative-led approach and its extensive experience in the shipping sector led to an optimal IP VPN for us."

To support its business initiatives, RCL required a partner that could:

Under the contract, Equant connected RCL's headquarters in Bangkok and its operational headquarters in Singapore to Brisbane, Fremantle, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila, Penang, Port Klang and Jakarta.

In addition, Equant's team of professional services consultants and project managers ensured that a seamless migration from frame relay to the new platform was completed successfully on time, within budget and to specification.

Because of traffic prioritization capabilities with Equant's IP VPN, RCL agencies can now experience better performance for their IT applications and information exchange than before. Equant's IP VPN's offers five classes of service to facilitate performance fine-tuning of mission-critical IT applications. Using the same Equant IP VPN network, employees also enjoy high-quality voice communications between RCL offices. The company is looking to expand this network to other RCL agencies in the near future.

David Nishball, Equant's senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific, said: "Equant's unique experience in the transportation industry, together with the cost and performance advantages of our IP VPN, will help RCL gain competitive advantage. We are pleased to continue our successful partnership with RCL in this region and look forward to building an even stronger relationship."

In addition to RCL, Equant currently provides service to shipping companies such as P&O Nedlloyd, APL and APL Logistics, China Shipping and K Line.

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