BT on the offensive with €50m Thales contract

BT has added French company Thales to an ever-growing list of customers trusting it with looking after their communications and IT needs.

The defence, aeronautics and services group has chosen BT over several international rivals - most notably France Telecom subsidiary Equant - to run its voice and data networks across 42 countries. These will be migrated over time so that they use Internet Protocol (IP) for all methods of communication.

The five-year deal is worth €50m.

A Thales spokesperson said: "This deal with BT is a very important one for Thales. We were dealing with dozens of different suppliers across the world. BT will now be our only supplier for voice and data services. This will result in streamlined operations, a rapid migration to encrypted VoIP, simpler supplier/customer relations and, ultimately, reduced costs... Our respect for BT and their ability to deliver was an important factor in making this decision."

BT has been at the vanguard of former national carriers extending into managed communications and IT services contracts as revenues from traditional cash cows such as voice calls continue to wane.

Last week it announced a deal thought to be worth as much as £500m with US industrial giant Bristol-Myers Squibb. A characteristic of the UK telco's push over the past two years has been its ability to win business around the world which would have previously been thought easy pickings for local operators.

Public sector contracts in the Netherlands, Germany and Spain complement inroads made into the US, thought likely to become all the more common after last year's acquisition of Infonet, previously a competitor for the type of contract signed by Thales.