AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced today at GULFCOMMS ’07[1] that AT&T is expanding its services in the Middle East, as part of an ongoing strategic investment in the region. The initiatives include increasing AT&T’s network reach and building a stronger local presence. In addition, AT&T is hosting some of its largest global customers for an advisory meeting during the exhibition.
AT&T announced that its network node being deployed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in cooperation with Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) and NavLink, a company within which AT&T maintains a minority shareholding, is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2007. The agreement to deploy this node was announced at GULFCOMMS last year.
The advanced data infrastructure from AT&T will allow AT&T and NavLink customers to directly interconnect to STC’s nationwide Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network – the largest and most advanced MPLS network in the Middle East region.
AT&T will further enhance its network reach in the Gulf with the deployment of a new AT&T global network node in Kuwait through the cooperation of QualityNet, the leading provider of data networking services in Kuwait. The companies will work with NavLink to activate the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) node during 2008.
As part of the agreement between the three companies, QualityNet will host the AT&T global network node and allow them to offer IP Virtual Private Network (VPN) services both to local Kuwaiti customers seeking global connectivity and to AT&T’s existing multinational customers seeking to extend their presence and reach in the Gulf region.
These initiatives to expand AT&T’s network reach in the Middle East complement AT&T’s existing network infrastructure already fully deployed and operational in United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The initiatives also forms part of AT&T’s $750 million global investment programme which was announced earlier this year.
In the coming months, AT&T plans to grow its sales and support team based in Dubai to compliment its enhanced network reach.
Alongside GITEX, AT&T is also hosting a Regional Advisory Council (RAC) meeting, which will bring together some of AT&T’s most important and influential customers who have a strong presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Representatives from MasterCard Worldwide, Siemens and DuPont are among a total of 21 organizations attending the meeting to discuss strategies and opportunities in the Middle East.
AT&T provides advanced communications services to global multinational customers and offers consistent, resilient and standardized IP services to business customers around the world. These services include IP-based VPN that use the latest MPLS technology and are complemented by an advanced portfolio of data-hosting services and leading IP security offerings.
Kaynak : 