Swisscom goes global with virtual network co, Vanco

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 13 September 2005 18:55

IT Industry - Strategy

Switzerland's national telco, Swisscom, has entered into a 10 year partnership with a UK based Vanco, a company which provides global network services to major multinationals in competition with the likes of BT, Equant and AT&T, but without owning any network infrastructure. The deal, with Swisscom subsidiary, Swisscom Solutions will see Swisscom Solutions offering network services to its multinational and international customers services outside its current home market of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. According to Swisscom, "This is the first time that a leading European telecoms company has opted for a global alliance with a virtual network operator (VNO)."
René Fischer, CEO of Swisscom Solutions, said: "Our multinational business customers increasingly expect us to be the sole contact partner for their corporate networks." He said that to do this Swisscom Solutions needed to have "the ability to deliver complete end-to-end solutions, guaranteed high network availability and first-class quality of service," and "this relationship with Vanco is the most effective way of bringing these benefits to market on a truly global basis."
Vanco was founded in 1988 and claims to be the pioneer of the virtual network operator model. It selects and procures the requisite infrastructure from existing suppliers and integrates it into the respective corporate network. This way, it claims "customers can be offered an optimum price-performance ratio and a solution tailored to their specific business requirements.
"Additionally, the VNO model allows the client the freedom to alter the underlying technology or carrier depending on changing business requirements."
Vanco was founded in 1988. Earlier this year it reported its annual revenues passed the £100 million mark, and it reported a profit of £10 million. Vanco claims a presence in 230 countries. It has had an office in Australia since late 2003.