Netherlands-based Internet and data communications company KPNQwest (NASDAQ & ASE: KQIP) announced today (Jan 4) that Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: DELL) has selected the KPNQwest Internet Protocol-based Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) solution for a 21-site network of offices, manufacturing facilities, and call centers across Europe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We continually use technology and the Internet to increase our business velocity and enhance our interaction with customers,” said Paul Bell, president, Dell Europe, Middle East and Africa. “The implementation of a high-speed, secure IP VPN is another example of our commitment to driving speed and efficiency throughout our business and of our continued investment in our own IT infrastructure.”
The KPNQwest solution supports all of Dell EMEA data communications needs by creating an integrated, secure, high-speed, standards-based environment for Dell’s wide area application connectivity. KPNQwest will provide each of the 21 Dell sites with state-of-the-art security and routing technology, dual access and Customer Premises Equipment to guarantee uninterrupted service and dynamic re-routing, ensuring continuous operation of its European business-critical applications. Several of the key sites within the IP VPN network will be supplied with dedicated connections of 34 Mbps, making this the first known high-speed IP VPN in Europe.
“This deal is all about speed,” said Jack McMaster, president and CEO of KPNQwest. “The speed with which the IP VPN network will be implemented for Dell; the speed of the network itself; and the speed with which Dell delivers the products and services that have made it the world’s leading direct computer systems company.”
KPNQwest is deploying a technologically advanced 20,000 km fiber-optic network connecting 50 cities throughout Europe and provides a full portfolio of data-centric IP-based services and other advanced telecommunications services. KPNQwest is one of the largest business ISPs in Europe with operations in 15 countries. KPNQwest has twelve CyberCenters and has announced plans to build a further eighteen 10,000-square-meter CyberCenters across Europe on its high-capacity fiber-optic network to provide web hosting, application sharing and telehousing services.
KPNQwest’s pan-European IP-based VPN service to the corporate market provides built-in security solutions and guaranteed service levels, managed routers, managed firewalls, ISDN back up, secure internet access and 7×24 customer support. In addition, KPNQwest’s IP VPN provides secure remote access into corporate IP VPN networks from 7500 PoPs (Points of Presence), in 150 countries via analogue, ISDN and GSM phone connections.
The IP VPN service is supplied via 300 fully owned PoPs in 19 European countries on KPNQwest’s 20,000km EuroRings fiber-optic network, with seamless transatlantic connectivity to the Qwest network in North America. The KPNQwest service is the first European-led global IP VPN and sets the benchmark for a new innovative and cost-effective era in European corporate networking. It will enable customers to migrate quickly and easily from traditional mixed WAN (Wide Area Network) solutions such as Frame Relay and multiple national ISP connections, to an integrated, secure, standards-based environment for intranet/extranet solutions with unified billing for all data, voice and multimedia requirements.
