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Global Crossing Delivers Voice Services to Consortium of UK Local Authorities
- Addresses needs of 10 councils in the southeast of England.
- Provides platform for Global Crossing to grow government business.
- Membership of Southeast Network for Telecommunications set to expand.
London - October 26, 2005 -- Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) has been awarded a framework agreement for the supply of voice services to a consortium of 10 UK local authorities. Bracknell Forest Borough Council is the first member of the Southeast Network for Telecommunications (SENT) consortium to place a four-year contract with Global Crossing. SENT comprises councils in the southeast of England that have pooled their purchasing power for telephony services provided to more than 15,000 users.
The SENT initiative is led by Bracknell Council Borough Council (BFBC). Global Crossing is providing voice services to SENT members through the Government Telecommunications Contract (GTC), a framework agreement administered by OGC.buying.solutions.
SENT is actively marketing the services provided by Global Crossing to other local authorities in the southeast region, including schools, parish and town councils, and other public sector bodies. BFBC alone expects to reduce its current spend on telephony by 30 percent. At current usage levels, the councils collectively expect to realize well over £1 million in savings over the term of the agreement. As additional members join SENT, further savings will be possible through volume discounts.
Global Crossing UK managing director Phil Metcalf said: "We enjoy a high profile in central government as the provider of secure managed services to more than 110,000 users under the Managed Telecommunications Services framework agreement. Today's contract for SENT takes Global Crossing into a buoyant sector of government that offers us significant opportunities for growth. We look forward to working with individual members of SENT to meet their growing telecoms requirements."
The objective of SENT is to rationalize the procurement of telephony and to meet government "value for money" criteria when awarding supplier contracts. The contract with Global Crossing was awarded following a mini-competition between GTC pre-qualified suppliers.
As part of the impetus for the public sector to extract maximum value, SENT commissioned an e-auction between pre-qualified suppliers for various categories of service. Principal procurement officer for BFBC Jo Alderson said: "Global Crossing was awarded the contract to provide voice services on the basis of cost and quality, including the company's ability to provide comprehensive coverage across the 10 authorities."
Tim Wheadon, chief executive of BFBC, said: "I'm extremely satisfied at the outcome of this innovative procurement process. The challenge of working with a large consortium to gather the data necessary for such a big contract in such a short timescale cannot be underestimated. The result shows the benefits our creative approach, backed up by determination and attention to detail. We'll be actively promoting SENT as a way of bringing cost-effective communications to a larger number of local authorities."
By placing the contract through the existing GTC framework, SENT was able to significantly reduce procurement timescales, realizing savings for its members at an earlier stage, while at the same time ensuring that all suppliers had been fully pre-qualified.
Global Crossing began providing voice services on October 1, 2005. The initial service will be based on carrier preselect to give councils an immediate cost saving and allow them time to shift services from current suppliers.
The architecture of Global Crossing's UK voice network includes multiple direct fiber interconnects with BT's main and local exchanges to provide resilient, national coverage of all business centers at highly competitive rates.
Although the SENT requirement is focused on voice lines and calls, Global Crossing offers a broader range of services to local authorities including:
- Fully managed service
- Choice of equipment platform
- Options for flexible and remote working
- Voicemail and operator services
- Fixed tariff per handset that includes the PBX, handset, circuit, maintenance and moves and changes
- Under GTC, call charges are extra. Councils opting for the MTS managed service can take advantage of a bundle service that includes all calls in the tariff.
ABOUT THE SENT CONSORTIUM
Southampton City Council is the biggest authority within SENT with 9,000 users.
The current members include:
- Bracknell Forest Borough Council
- Buckinghamshire County Council
- Chichester District Council
- Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
- Sandhurst Town Council
- Southampton City Council
- Thanet District Council
- Vale of White Horse District Council
- Wokingham District Council
- Worthing Borough Council
ABOUT GLOBAL CROSSING
Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) provides telecommunications solutions over the world's first integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300 cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 countries and 6 continents around the globe. The company's global sales and support model matches the network footprint and, like the network, delivers a consistent customer experience worldwide.
Global Crossing IP services are global in scale, linking the world's enterprises, governments and carriers with customers, employees and partners worldwide in a secure environment that is ideally suited for IP-based business applications, allowing e-commerce to thrive. The company offers a full range of managed data and voice products including Global Crossing IP VPN Service, Global Crossing Managed Services and Global Crossing VoIP services, to more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500, as well as 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs.
Please visit www.globalcrossing.com for more information about Global Crossing.
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Statements made in this press release that state Global Crossing's intentions, beliefs, expectations, or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. These statements contain words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "seek," or similar expressions. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements, including the conditioning of the company's continued listing on the NASDAQ National Market on its timely filing with the SEC of all periodic reports for all reporting periods ending on or prior to September 30, 2005; the company's history of substantial operating losses and the fact that, in the near term, funds from operations will not satisfy cash requirements; legal and contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends and the inter-company transfer of funds by the company's subsidiaries, including restrictions under the senior secured notes indenture applicable to Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications Limited ("GCUK"); the likelihood that the prices the company charges for its services will continue to decrease; the company's ability to continue to connect its network to incumbent carriers' networks or maintain Internet peering arrangements on favorable terms; the success of the company's business realignment plan and the realization of anticipated cost savings; the consequences of any inadvertent violation of the company's Network Security Agreement with the U.S. Government; the impact of actual and potential customers' bankruptcies on the company's sales prospects and results of operations; increased competition and pricing pressures resulting from technology advances and regulatory changes; competitive disadvantages relative to competitors with superior resources; the impact on the company's competitiveness of its technology choices; the company's dependence on third parties for many functions; political, legal and other risks due to the company's substantial international operations; risks arising out of the company's material weaknesses in internal controls and possible difficulties and delays in improving such controls; the concentration of GCUK's revenue in a limited number of customers, and the rights of such customers to terminate their contracts or to simply cease purchasing services thereunder; and other risks referenced from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no duty to update information contained in this press release or in other public disclosures at any time.
CONTACT GLOBAL CROSSING:
Press Contacts
Becky Yeamans
+ 1 973 937 0155
PR@globalcrossing.com
Kendra Langlie
Latin America
+ 1 305 808 5912
LatAmPR@globalcrossing.com
Mish Desmidt
Europe
+ 44 (0) 1256 732 866
EuropePR@globalcrossing.com
Analysts/Investors Contact
Laurinda Pang
+ 1 800 836 0342
glbc@globalcrossing.com
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