In April this year AT&T ended its local service provider agreement with Telstra and began selling directly to Australian business customers. As part of this process the company has invested in six multi-protocol label-switching (MPLS) nodes, with two in Sydney and one each in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
The nodes are connected by a fibre backbone, and where AT&T didn't have its own cable it purchased it off other companies.
"It was a more enjoyable process than we thought it would be," said Brett Barningham, sales and marketing director for AT&T global network services Australia. "We were very encouraged by the capacity of smaller companies, we were impressed with their flexibility and service levels."
Through a purchasing process AT&T chose three companies, NextGen, PowerTel and IP1 Australia. These companies will provide the fibre connectivity AT&T requires between its MPLS nodes.
The six new MPLS nodes are part of 25 in the Asia Pacific region and 122 nodes being installed around the world as part of a US$300 million investment by AT&T. The multi-million-dollar investment in Australia ties in with a 32 percent growth in revenue in AT&T's first six months of operation in this country.
"We're targeting business multinationals, we're targeting the medium to large space," said Barningham. "We're not a local SME player." According to Barningham, multi-national businesses are attracted by the prospect of receiving one bill in one currency for connectivity across different countries.
The two services most in demand are Global Managed Internet Services, which provides Internet connection from one country to the next with a managed router, and Enhanced Virtual Private Network services over the MPLS network.
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