AT&T, Linde Sign Global Networking Agreement

AT&T (News - Alert) announced a global networking agreement with Linde Group AG to provide a single and consistent wide area network for 1,700 Linde sites in more than 60 countries.

The Linde Group is a worldwide gases and engineering company. Linde’s products and services can be found in nearly every industry, in more than 100 countries. The new network is designed to underpin the on-going business transformation to streamline and optimize Linde's operations worldwide.

Under the terms of the seven year contract, AT&T has been appointed as Linde's primary worldwide network services provider and will support the company's operations with an integrated series of services including an advanced Virtual Private Network (VPN) to support critical business applications. The agreement will allow Linde businesses and their subsidiaries reliable access to a common network infrastructure from locations around the world.

Linde initiated a major global procurement program in 2009 to select a single global provider to assist them in transforming their regional networks to a single global network platform. The new single global network from AT&T will replace Linde's current environment of multiple regional and national networks previously provided by a variety of vendors.

Having a single global VPN provides Linde with numerous advantages for design, implementation and flexibility in operation. It also facilitates standardized customer premise equipment configurations, and routing across the network.

Elimination of separate inter-region networks further simplifies routing. Going forward AT&T will have the responsibility of enabling, provisioning and integrating network resources for Linde Group businesses around the world, meaning there is a single point of contact for the customer and a single seamless management under a single sourcing policy, allowing Linde to focus on core business activity.

Reflecting the truly global nature of Linde's business, the agreement sees AT&T providing services in every major region of the world supporting Linde's 48,000 employees. There are more than 900 locations in EMEA, 430 in the Americas and over 370 in Asia Pacific.

Major Linde locations include the company's headquarters in Munich, Germany, and regional HQ's in the UK (Guildford), North America (Murray Hills, NJ), Latin America (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Asia Pacific (Singapore) and China (Shanghai) as well as significant operations in India, the Middle East and Africa.

AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a provider of wireless, WiFi (News - Alert), high speed Internet and voice services. A company in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.

It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse and AT&T DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their work in local search and advertising.

The Linde Group is a worldwide gases and engineering company with almost 48,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2009 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 11.2 bn. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.

In related news, AT&T expanded its mobile broadband network along Route 10 between Huntington and Salt Rock extending access for advanced mobile services, devices and feature-rich audio and video content to customers in the area.