BT nets £18.5m AstraZeneca deal

BT has won an £18.5m contract to build and run a new global internet protocol (IP) backbone for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

The IP network will connect 82 sites around the globe and BT will retain responsibility for operation, supervision, maintenance and helpdesk functions.

AstraZeneca claims the new IP network will reduce costs and give it the flexibility to introduce new IP-based applications over a single network.

Johan Almström, global service manager of data and telecoms at AstraZeneca, said in a statement: "We need robust network services, supporting our current and future applications as well as our intensive collaboration with customers and suppliers [and] we wanted to adapt our network services in order to better respond to the new realities of the global economy."

BT claims the project, which is based on its multi-protocol label switching platform, will be one of the largest IP networks in the pharmaceutical industry.