New Delhi: AT&T (www.ap.att.com/in) has concluded a landmark agreement to provide managed Internet protocol (IP) services to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), the industry-owned cooperative that provides secure messaging services and interface software to 7,000 financial institutions in 198 countries.

AT&T offers the AT&T enhanced virtual private network (EVPN) service to the SWIFT (www.swift.com) user community as the network access technology to connect to the SWIFT backbone network that underpins SWIFTNet, its new IP-based messaging platform.

Riding on the AT&T global network, the EVPN service is a global, fully-managed VPN service designed to provide the flexibility of any-to-any communications with the reliability, quality and security of a multi-protocol label switched-based IP-enabled network. AT&T invested $300 million in its global network in 2002 and the benefits of this major investment will now be made available to SWIFT members.

A key factor in the selection of AT&T was its global footprint which, combined with local market presence in Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions, enables the company to provide global scalability with local knowledge. AT&T’s appointment followed a rigorous and demanding evaluation process in which operational excellence, competitive pricing, financial status and business synergy with SWIFT were assessed.

Says SWIFT chief executive officer Leonard H. Schrank: “We are extremely pleased to be working with AT&T as a network partner. Our ambition, on behalf of the SWIFT community, is to deliver a secure IP network that is lowest risk, highest resilience at a competitive price. Working with our newly selected partners, we are confident that we can deliver that.”

“As one of the leading providers of data services to the global business community we are delighted to have been selected by SWIFT,” says AT&T Asia Pacific vice-president Yoichiro Yatsurugi. “SWIFT is a critical component of the financial services industry and we are delighted its has concluded that AT&T is able to provide the resilience, reach and quality demanded by its customers.”

In India, AT&T has recently enhanced its customer support capabilities by receiving an OSP (other service provider) licence from India’s department of telecommunications. AT&T can now deliver its data networking and management services in a more cost-effective and flexible way.

“We can now use a point-to-point leased line or an Internet link with ISDN backup to monitor and manage our customers’ networks. This will translate into significant cost savings for our customers,” says Sanjiv Bhagat, country general manager, AT&T Business Services India. “Customers such as GeoLogistics India can now benefit from the immediate cost savings and improvement in network efficiency.”

SWIFT is the industry-owned cooperative supplying secure messaging services and interface software to 7,000 financial institutions in 198 countries. SWIFT provides messaging services to banks, brokers, dealers and investment managers, as well as to market infrastructures in payments, treasury, securities and trade. These services help customers reduce costs, improve automation and manage risk.

AT&T India is committed to providing India and the regional market with high-quality data communications and networking services. AT&T offers a comprehensive service portfolio in India including network consulting, design and implementation, managed security services, managed data network services, multi-protocol label switched-based virtual private network service, frame relay connectivity, multi-protocol network connectivity, managed virtual private network, remote dial-up access with global roaming and network outsourcing services.